lol, I’m a Kanthony Stan and I was waiting for your feedback. What are your thoughts? Do you think they will return for future seasons - I don’t know what to expect with Jess Brownell
Don't even bother, sis. They were cute and fine but I thought Kate and Anthony would've had a slightly bigger role and the roles that they did play in the Polin relationship just felt like cutaways to me. Like they just put that there for the sake of fan service and not because it mattered. Idk. The entire press tore was more interesting than the season itself and it felt like the tore was used to make up for what was lacking in their own season. Nothing makes any sense and it makes me so mad
I heard the actors have signed up for the next season (polin too) so hoping to see them 🙏🏾 hopefully they’re fully in their viscount and viscountess roles
They really GASLIT us girl😭✋🏽. How are you gonna NOT give the couple that has the most history ZERO backstory and flashbacks? It's a show with actors, is it not? Show us, not tell us. They didn't even use half or a third of what was in the books. I barely know Colin and he's the Bridgerton and i know so much about Penelope and he felt like a prop in his own season. Terrible writing and tahts why it felt so flat. They told ys that we were getting romcom....umm where was the Rom, where was the Com?????? In my notes i wrote, "Ass editing" 😭. I read that book twice, was so excited for the season. It wasn't good at all
I think they gave almost everything about Colin and Penelope to Eloise and Benedict. Like most of Eloise’s season 1 speeches are speeches Penelope gives to Colin. Almost everything Colin values is given to Benedict. Somehow they took everything we loved about Colin and Penelope to Benedict and Eloise. And you know what? It did not make Eloise more likable. It made Benedict more likable. I just hate it. Colin is this man of the world that values interpersonal relationships and values working people and finds inspiration in them. Meanwhile book Benedict goes on and on telling his love interest that he doesn’t respect her and doesn’t want to be seen with her in public and that if she complains about him too much he will file a false police report and have her hung or exiled to Australia. What a great and romantic guy. They also made Benedict the bi character. I think Colin would have fit that better based on his book as a charming man of the world that respects the hell out of people. I feel so robbed of Colin and Pen because the writers favored Benedict and Eloise. Benedict is my second least favorite character after Daphne. And Benedict is in my top 10 of worst romance novel men I have read out of dozens of books I have read. I hate his character so much in the books. And in the show I am just annoyed that he stole Colin’s personality’s
FINALLY!!! I HAVE BEEN SAYING THIS! why didn't we get any back story of when pen created whisteldown or when Collin was traveling or when they were younger like ughh
As a visual artist it was really jarring for me to see such soft looks in previous season, which were mostly all "no make up" make up looks, being contrasted with the make up they chose for Penelope. It was really throwing me off. She would have looked lovely with much softer and lighter make up
Which just makes the entire point about booting the director true. We need refurbished plotlines. This is not looking good. I don't want Bridgerton to stop like other Shondaland Works. Because there is a possibility, if they run the way they are rn, viewers gonna stick around for only another season.
I hate when that happens. That seems sexist in of itself. Bendetict being pan wasn’t the issue. It was him being used as a sex doll. I get the aimless plot they wanted him to have, but you can do that without objectifying him. And Colin deserved way better. He was a good character in previous seasons and am glad that most of him searching for a purpose arc was in season 2 because that way we can mainly focus on the romance between Penelope and Colin, but they just made him angsty and a rake which wasn’t his character. Both he and Penelope argued from time to time about LW and internalized, but they communicated and got to the root of their issues. And they had happy moments in between all of that. They didn’t stop talking altogether. The show just made Colin look like a jerk. He had his jerkish moments in the book, but he wasn’t just sulking around ignoring Pen either.
i’m glad we’re not pretending that this season was any good. they didn’t even try this time around. and really the question is why? the actors had chemistry, we saw that in their interviews. and they already had a two season build up. everything was set up for success already. so the fact that they managed to screw it up is so crazy to me.
I think their biggest mistake was going out of order. I think they really could have done Benedict's season first, and have Colin be on his trip for the full season and he comes back at the end of the season. That's more in line with what happened in the book, Colin was away for a long period of time and that's why he comes back a "changed man". How they played it in the series he was away for THREE/FOUR MONTHS and he has been away for that same period of time before. What made this trip different?
It'd have been so cool if they shot a flashback with different POV'S of the same event, like how they met. A child Colin getting ready to ride his horse in the park with his brothers. They joke around, or maybe Colin tags along to the annoyance of his brothers. And little Penelope notices him from her window, she's admired the Bridgertons from afar since moving in but has never met them. Her sisters tease her for moping, her mother says they're going to promenade so they can socialize with the Ton since their neighbors have been so rude as to not have called on their new neighbors! Quick cuts back and forth, super dramatic between Pen's who's growing anxiety at following her family vs. Colin who may be arguing with his brothers. Colin isn't paying attention, Penelope's bonnet does loop de loops off her head, smacks him in the face. Off he falls. Pen is stressed out, Portia is about to be stormin, Colin laughs, Pen smiles and urged on by Colin she makes a joke and is incredibly charming. And later on maybe Colin sees Penelope and wants to speak to her, but Eloise gets to her first and "steals" her away because she just knows they'll be the best of friends. I believe Colin meets Pen before El in the books, Colin being Penelope's first friend while Eloise is her best, would've been an interesting dynamic to further explore.
Uff, koreans dramas are so good with this!, they give flashback and we see one side of the story and later bum!, they showed us the other point of view and revelations, just great tv... I highly recommend korean romcoms and dramas! 😊
I agree about the messaging around Penelope’s glow up. It was so dissatisfying, it wouldn’t have been so bad if they had balanced it out with more natural looks but they really didn’t. It was so frustrating that in the epilogue scene where Penelope is postpartum with a young baby she is still glammed up. She is with her family! Give her a break!
Yes I also don't agree with the entire glow up thing before you meet your true love concept like wth?? True love is the love that is even valid while your Butt ugly not just when you're all prim and proper. I love Pen's aesthetic before as well, and they switched things up entirely as though the previous version wasn't catching eyes and yall gotta look dope to be with someone. And then we wonder why the beauty standards are so toxic. Like bring back the naturality, let's appreciate our unique pretty queens.
In the books they go into how Lady Whistledown happened. Pen wasn't looking to be an author, she was venting about a ball because she was being bullied and I was basically a journal entry. Her father's attorney found it and he encouraged her to publish it because it was funny. He also set it all up, he git the publisher, he delivered the articles, and arrange her payments ans every. He even set things up while he was dying so she could carry on after he dies ( I goes on for 10 years in the book).
And I like it way better because also lady Whistledown isn’t as destructive in the books it’s more fun they made lady Whistledown too much of a big part of the show and she’s very terrible
This is so fun wth? Also it would give Pen a father figure in a way, and be another reason to encourage her to keep the role as LW. It's the only way she can express herself and connect with the only person who encouraged her
Oh reading this actually makes me sad, it sounds like so much fun and a really sweet backstory for Lady Whistledown. Wish they'd gone more this way than make LW so meanspirited and cruel
She's too busy making it for herself to care about the viewers. I don't even i terrace with their instsfrsm anymore because the marketing is too much snd thrbshiw was a disappointment and that dry as the Saharah desert sex scene makes me cringe hard.
I don't think she cares, shw didn't care about the so called main couple. She was needlessly cruel to Penelope 80% Colin's role this season was facial expressions.
Yesss, you nailed exactly my thoughts during this season. The lack of pining from Colin plus the desperation of Penelope -brotha eugh. Also the threesomes from both brothers was just too much. It was definitely a flop, especially after QC devoured last year.
Aww I’d have to disagree! In the books, Colin doesn’t pine for her at all-there is no lord Debling, no other suitors come up to Penelope. Basically Colin gets her as soon as he realizes he wants her. Zero pining in the book, it was disappointing. At least in the show we got to see Colin get jealous! Also the threesome with Colin to me represented the two personalities he was in bed with-he’s in love with two women: Pen and Lady Whistledown 😅 The threesome between Benedict was boring and repetitive (on purpose, I think) to show how tiresome this lifestyle is going to get to Ben pretty quickly. He’s going to want something more substantial soon. I think with season 3, you really have to read behind the lines and look for the subtle symbolism going on! That’s why it’s my favorite season so far, and it’s why it only gets better every time I rewatch it
@@MAYBEE90 where did you disagree with me in that reply? I said he didn’t pine for her and you said he doesn’t pine for her in the book. 😅 I’m glad you enjoyed it though!!
Oh, when it comes to amazing, super quotable love confessions from the book, I CANNOT believe this didn’t make it into the show: “I love you,” he said, his voice low and fervent. “I love you with everything I am, everything I’ve been, and everything I hope to be.” “Colin . . .” “I love you with my past, and I love you for my future.” He bent forward and kissed her, once, softly, on the lips. “I love you for the children we’ll have and for the years we’ll have together. I love you for every one of my smiles, and even more, for every one of your smiles.” Penelope sagged against the back of a nearby chair. “I love you,” he repeated. “You know that, don’t you?”
I completely agree with you. This season failed to tell its story. It just felt like there were multiple pieces that could have been interesting, but they just abandoned them part way through. The flirting lessons, Colin's toxic masculinity phase, and Cressida's redemption all could have been interesting, but they did not tell the story enough for us to care.
Can we also address how they played in our faces especially plus sized women? They played it up on the press tour the whole big girl land hot guy thing, even the first trailer was catered that way and after ALL that, they had Penelope begging for kisses, spent her wedding stressed, and her wedding night ignored. The writers butchered Colin's character so bad but what they did to Pen was just cruel.
Finally someone said ittt The whole girl boss feminist lady whisledown was soooo forced. Literally agree with everything you said it's like you've gotten everything i had on my mind 👏👏👏
Do we have to remind everybody that this series has always been a two-hander more than it is an actual ensemble show that Jess Brownell wants to force it as? It has always been firstly ABOUT a Bridgerton sibling AND their love interest. The rest of the characters are used as preparation for yet another Bridgerton sibling in the next seasons. The Bridgerton family member's name is written on a tree in every new season's show intro. It will always revolve around them or at least it should be, meaning that they should have more screen time and proper development. It's that simple! There are arguments in forums and in character analysis videos, demanding us to go back to S1-2 just to "pay attention" to Colin's microexpressions and body language. But if you really look at the bigger picture here, S1 and 2 isn't AT ALL Colin's own season spotlight. S1 is about Daphne, S2 is about Anthony, and yes Colin together with every other sibling has been slowly developing. The question for Colin in S3 now is, what ELSE do we have to know besides what we ALREADY know back in the previous seasons? Hence, some people wanting a flashback or some type of proper exposition to understand this OLDER Colin rather than grasping whatever crumb is left of him in S1-2. HOW did he WANT to get into writing? What happened that made him realize that he needed to put up this "armor" or facade all of a sudden? Better yet, what happened during his travels that made him this way? Could they at least fill us in with that? Colin came back to Mayfair in S3 after a YEAR. A lot can happen in a year. Was he getting lonely in his travels? The only thing we got is Penelope stopped writing to him - even to that they couldn't show us. Telling us isn't enough. And why are you making me go back to a younger Colin and to some event that happened two years ago? It doesn't exactly explain why he became a rake nor how he led up to become a writer. Whatever people say at this point is all subject to speculation. We go back to previous seasons and imagine it all ourselves to fill in the gaps. It's weak. That's why this entire season has an unearned payoff. We all know who Colin is, but not well enough as we should have.
OMG! I saw the same thing. They were reading into every little thing and trying to tell us what it means because they read the books. But here’s the thing, it’s a tv show. The audience shouldn’t have to read the series to understand what’s happening in the show. That’s ridiculous. I told them that in the comments and they got mad! 😂
@@LoveK1 I read the book, and honestly, show!Colin and book!Colin don't have a lot in common when it comes to Lady Whistledown, and if people say that I should look at the book, they are not reading the same book as I was. Book!Colin was terrified (!) and mad that Pen put herself in danger to be Lady Whistledown, he was mad what might happen to her if people found out, and yes, he was jealous of her writing because he had issues with his own writing, but all of that is not or almost no issue in the show ... it's just ... lacking.
@@buchbummelant8980 yes and show Colin got mad about Penelope publishing again because he believes that they are partners and that they had agreed she wouldn’t. Colin is treated as lesser in the show, and it is affecting Luke Newton’s career because it looks like he cannot carry off a leading role.
@@peggyspurlock3012 THIIIIS!! I was thinking the exact same thing, I thought Colin, as a character...was not ready to be the lead, he was young, made bad decisions (Marina) and suddenly they needed him to fall for Penelope as quick as possible with a very lacking plot. It could have been handled better, and the worst thing is that Luke was left exposed and vulnerable (as an actor and as a person) because of the lack of development on his character and the bad writing. They did him SO wrong, it makes me mad, he didn't deserve this. :c
I think season 3 flopped because it's no longer a CVD production. It was his show, and he knew how to beautifully adapt the books to the show. I really missed his touch this season.
@@1Pinkballoon more true to the book doesn't mean a better told/coherent visual story. Book readers tend to fill in the blank spaces that is missing in the visual adaptation in a way that those who haven't read the books can't. Not a bad thing, or a critique just a perspective to consider as to why some groups have such wildly different experiences of the same media.
@@reading1713 well this is coming from a book fan I didn’t like season one, but that’s on me cause I don’t like the couple dynamic not in the show or the books, but I loved the introduction of all the characters and the world of Bridgerton, but season 2, keep in mind that is one of my favorites books, that story was completely destroyed for me, they made so many stuff wrong starting for Anthony asking Edwina to marry him and almost doing so? Like why would you put Kate in the position where she ended up with the man her sister almost married? For the sake of drama? Even when I enjoy season 2 way more than season 1, they created a whole new story that frustrated me more that it serves me, enemies to lovers? Right? 7 out of 8 ep being enemies, like really? And waiting till the end of ep 6 to have a first kiss, in the church you sister almost got merry 2 minutes after she call of the wedding, listen, I don’t know why they decided to do this this but the story in the books is way more interesting and at least they both had morals, Anthony from the books could not even court Edwina properly cause he could not stop thinking about Kate, so he never proposed to Edwina …. But anyway, this season is the better one for me and it has actual romance, and also they added more stuff like the wedding and more kisses, and also the give depth to Colin he is pretty plain in the books, Penelope is always the main character, and I like she didn’t give up LW, over all this is the season(3) that give me more joy than disappointment, but then again I know is my opinion, we can always disagree.
@@1Pinkballoon I read the book and I enjoyed it, but I preferred the adaptation. The visualization was more exciting, because of the chemistry between the actors who played Anthony and Kate.
They really GASLIT us girl😭✋🏽. How are you gonna NOT give the couple that has the most history ZERO backstory and flashbacks? It's a show with actors, is it not? Show us, not tell us. They didn't even use half or a third of what was in the books. I barely know Colin and he's the Bridgerton and i know so much about Penelope and he felt like a prop in his own season. Terrible writing and tahts why it felt so flat.
I found my people! I thought this season was bad. I didn't like the majority of it. My coworkers and friends made me feel like the biggest hater (I AM) but for other reasons. You expressed how I felt so well. It feels so good to be heard lol
Flashbacks would've helped, and were a missed opportunity in so many ways. Show us young Pen, Colin, and El. Show us the Featheringtons moving in, Colin falling off the horse. Show us the inception of Lady Whistledown. I think Edmund's death (and Hyacinth's birth) is a really crucial point for all of the Bridgertons. And while repetitive, I think it should've been addressed again in a flashback for Colin. For Daphne, it cements the idealized love of her parents . For Anthony it's the root of his trauma and fears. Violet tells us that Colin is the most sensitive of her children, he's always quick with a joke to lighten the mood, he rarely puts himself first, etc. What if we saw Edmund doing the same? Maybe little Colin is upset with his brothers or something sad happens and Colin is crying. Colin could feel insecure because his two older brothers spend more time with their father, he's a third son, does he even matter? Edmund goes to comfort his sensitive son, he makes him feel seen, and even tells a joke. I got chewed out for this on another site for suggesting this but I think they should've used Anthony's character as a source for Colin's insecurities. Anthony hardened himself after the trauma of Edmund's death, he became emotionally distant. In becoming the viscount/lead of the household, he becomes a father figure, especially to the younger children. Colin is probably what? 9 or 10 when his father dies? We see Anthony telling Colin in Season 1, Colin should've "wet his wick" and "sown his oats" more (and while he apologized words like that don't always leave you) and in Season 3, Anthony likes how Colin has a bunch of new admirers. Colin's newfound rakishness is supposedly because of his insecurity, this is a tv show, show us how that make have taken root. Show us a scene similar to my hypothetical Edmund scene with Anthony or maybe Colin has an emotional moment about Edmund after he died. Anthony, who is bottling his emotions, who Daphne said never cried after their father's passing, cannot handle it. He lashes out at Colin instead of comforting him. Then maybe have another scene. All the children are gathered, Violet too. They look morose, sad, still in deep mourning. Then something happens, it prompts Colin to say a joke, maybe he even says the exact joke his father told him. Everyone laughs, even Violet. It's the first time since Edmund's death, and he feels proud, he feels good, and he realizes this is what people want from him, this is who he should be, not that sensitive little boy. And the season could've helped build on this with him and Anthony hashing it out, with Colin and Anthony having a newfound understanding of one another, especially since Anthony has changed since being with Kate while Colin has regressed by trying to be something he is not. And maybe Pen meets Colin and El the season after Edmund's death? She's a sunny spot during a sad time. And they both give each other what they need, for Pen it's Colin's kindness and understanding. For Colin, it's Penelope's unwavering support and appreciation. I basically just wrote the outline for a fanfic but Christ this season had so much potential and I'm still MAD about it. Especially for Mr. Bridgerton!
I agree with everything you said and to add the speech Pen gives to Colin at their wedding brunch lowkey contradicts what her final speech says, what she said to Eloise at the end of s2 and overall what lady whistledown means in general. Lady Whistledown is supposed to be a reflection of their society. In their book(pen n Colin) she stands up to his criticism and tells him outright what her work means to her and why she writes. Like i feel the season lost what lady whistledown is supposed to mean, instead of highlighting that why do we the audience and the characters react harshly when it comes to knowing Penelope is Lady Whistledown compared to how we see characters including the Bridgertons be just as cutting and judgmental. The book tackles it in a better way i feel
The S3 writers expected us to look at S1 & S2 for the Polin backstory, but then ignore how Violet Bridgerton herself used Whistledown to get Daphne out of being forced to marry Nigel Berbrooke. And even in S3, they have Penelope saving Eloise (again) by publishing that column - after Eloise (again) put her family in danger of ruination - but then Eloise is all, 'oooh, sorry, Pen, can't help you explain to Colin why you did that b/c it's not my problem.'
She gave the why I did what I did speech to Eloise and not Collin. Meanwhile, Collin is telling everyone what Pen means to him and not her. The carriage scene is the worst because he gives this long speech but not an I love you.
I blame the idiotic new show runner. She was so desperate to put her own fantasies in Bridgerton that she forgot to do her job. And I LOVE Penelope!!! She's been my favorite character since Day One, so I left season 3 feeling hollow, disappointed, and confused. 📣 *This Was Supposed To Be HER Season!!!!* And, instead, we got tired, unnecessary threesomes and the Regency era version of The Jeffersons with the Mondrich family. 🙄😒🤬
I agree with your insights. Thee were some fine moments in Season 3. The Featherington women storyline was good. The Francesca John courtship was good until it wasn't with the infamous wedding scene. A lot of people swear Season 3 is the best. I don't understand it. I don't see it. But if that is how people feel, good for them I can't help but think the showrunner and hear team, just don't understand the point of Bridgerton. It's ironic because the showrunner Jess Brownell had been a Bridgerton writer for Seasons 1 and 2. The men in the Bridgerton books, (I have 3 so far), don't do much, but they do have quite deep emotions and feelings. I'm not just referring to their romantic feelings. The men in Seasons 1 and 2 are struggling with deep emotional scars that they need to overcome in order to find happiness with their love partner. Colin is pretty flat. We see him get mad over Lady Whistledown and it all seems kind of petty. I don't think the writers understand who Colin is. We understand Lady Danbury's brother and his attraction to Violet. We understand John Stirling and his feelings for Francesca. The whole Kate and Anthony was annoying, but I understood Anthony. In the book Colin and Penelope don't get together until she is in her late 20's and has resigned herself to being a spinster. Colin is over 30. I think that makes a big difference in how their romance would develop that cannot be captured by the timeframe presented in the Netflix series. Maybe the showrunners should have respected the timeline in the book. I hope there will be more discussion about what went wrong in Season 3. I am not interested in bashing anyone. Rather, they spent so much money on promotion and teasers and marketing, but the final product was "meh." Why? What does it say about people who think Season 3 was the best season? I just wonder what the showrunner will make from people's comments and reactions and how that will shape Season 4. I just finished "An Offer from a Gentleman" that is Benedict's story. It's a really good story in terms of how it is written, the substance of the romance and the character development. It's much more about class and society than passion. I can see Luke Thompson doing a great job with this role, if it is handled maturely and not jammed with simplistic tropes and extraneous side plots.
Benedict is my least favorite book male lead. He really comes off as this disrespectful violent man. I hate it. And show Benedict is only likable because he stole book Colin’s values and personality. And Eloise stole all of Penelope’s values and personality. Why the showrunners did that to Penelope and Colin baffles me. Like they lifted text verbatim from “romancing mr. Bridgerton” and had Eloise deliver them to Benedict instead. I also think that book Colin would make more sense as a queer character. He is a charming man that travels the world. He is very open minded in a way his siblings are not. But alas, the show chose to prioritize Benedict at the expense of Colin. I mean don’t get me wrong, show Benedict has a lot going for him. But that is only because he stole Colin’s personality and values.
@@InfinitelyRay Thank you for sharing. Yes, I did pick up that Book Colin seems a lot like Netflix/Shondaland Benedict minus the threesomes. I just finished An Offer From a Gentleman - Benedict's story. When is Benedict violent? Does it happen in Colin's timeline? Yes, the showrunners do some clever changing of characters. Hyacinth and Felicity Featherington, who is not in the series, seem an awful lot like Netflix Eloise and Penelope. I am starting to understand why it was so easy for the showrunners to genderswap Michael/Michaela. They have been swapping and altering characters all along. No wonder the storyline seems off to me.
@@gems3604 The show has steadily been moving away from the source material. And I think it is ok ish. Selling the show as they did and are still doing is not consistent with the product they produced. They made a lot of changes to the source material. But adaptations have sucked for time immemorial. Look at Ella Enchanted. The movie is fun. It is not a good adaptation for book fans. The Hunger Games got rid of Madge, who I wish was in the movies. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society changed most of the story for the worse. Stardust was changed a bit. Every Wonka movie messes up something significantly somehow. All the live-action Disney movie remakes has had people pissed at the changes. The jungle book and Tarzan were both super racist books. The movies are different. The snow queen and frozen barely resemble each other. The little mermaid has a happy ending. So many adaptations change a lot of things. And people don’t keep that in mind when watching an adaptation. I think it is hard for book fans to get on board with what feels like large changes to the source material. The show was billed as following the love lives of each sibling highlighting a new sibling each season. Season 3 played more like an ensemble cast and was a big departure in format for a lot of viewers and book fans. I agree that if you have 8 kids, probably one of them is going to have a queer identity. I also get the point that original characters are more compelling than changing characters in the books. It is really hard to be a showruner that wants queer love and also wanting to make book fans feel like the books are coming to life. Jess Brownell said that the queerbaiting in seasons 1 and 2 were on purpose. I think they didn’t need to build it up over 3 seasons. Benedict is already an adult in season 1. It would have been fine to just open with that. I guess maybe they were afraid of scaring away book fans too soon. I am not sure what the best move would have been for that. We are in the future. The first season was written I think like 2018 I read… it was a different world in a lot of ways to 2024. Some days it feels like we are heading back to the dark ages in America with all the attacks on the queer communities especially in Florida. Sometimes it feels like more people are finding the world is safer to come out in. And the books were written in the 90s and early 2000s. Ancient. We had barely any queer representation in the media in the 90s. The biggest one is Ross’s ex-wife in Friends. I think that Bridgerton season 3 really made mistakes in the way they introduced the queer storylines. A lot of people for instance are excited about the gender swap. A lot of people were gutted by it. A lot of people are using this opportunity to make as many homophobic comments that they can because they have an excuse that it is about the adaptation and not about queer love. I think for a lot of people that didn’t read the books and were confused by the gender swap is because of bad execution. I think they should have followed it how it is done in the books. Which is Francesca thinking of Michaela as a blob related to her husband and Michaela acting flustered. It really did make it feel like John didn’t matter and Francesca is going to cheat on him. Would that have stopped people from being mad? No. People don’t like it for many reasons. Some of those reasons are just homophobic reasons. And some reasons are because 1 in 6 people of all identities have infertility issues and readers are worried that the show won’t explore that topic. I don’t know if they will explore it. I think they can have both storylines easy. It won’t be the same. But, how much of Bridgerton is the same? Like you mentioned, they took out Felicity. They changed who the Featherington sisters married. They changed the Featherington’s title. They changed Marina. They added in Queen Charlotte. Obvi they decided to hire a lot of people of color. Something a lot of people overlook is Julia Quinn in a panel talked about why she didn’t write about people of color being because she didn’t know how to write happy endings in a racist world of England in the 1800s. Shonda and CVD decided that they would find a way to make those happy endings. I think that was a good decision to make the changes from an all white people stories to lots of people stories. It makes sense logically to then go from all straight stories to also having queer stories. A lot of people love Brimsley and Reynolds a lot and wanted more original characters like them. A lot of people feel that Bridgerton siblings should be queer too. So really people are at the point where they have to decide if the books are more important to them than the show and if they can see those changes as being valuable even though it is so different than the books? I see a lot of discourse that no one has taken the books from you. That is true. A lot of people were just so excited to see the books come to life that they do feel like the books were taken from them. Part of that is it feels like characters they loved were stolen from them. I can understand that. I can see why reading the book isn’t the same as seeing a character in the small screen. It’s hard to sort out what is a valid criticism and what is homophobic. I have read a few interviews of Jess Brownell that a lot of people are not happy with. Things like saying there isn’t a hierarchy of relationships in a show where she wrote hierarchy of relationships. Like an entire season of fighting for quiet love just to put it below passionate love at the end of the season. It is just another example of the messaging around the show just not lining up with the product they put out there. So it will be interesting to see if she will put that idea into practice next season. A lot of people wanted Eloise to be the queer sibling. Which by the way, Eloise can still be queer. They don’t have to cap it at 2 siblings. I see a lot of people are mad that a feminist character has to be queer as a counter to all that. There is just a lot of back and forth. I see even more people asking Shondaland and Netflix to adapt more queer books instead of changing around the Bridgerton siblings. The back and forth in it makes my head hurt sometimes. I would love it if Netflix and Shondaland did adapt queer books and a lot of them. I say the more queer representation the better. I also just wish they didn’t swap personalities between siblings. It felt weird to me to do that. I was weirded out when they made that swap in season 1 and it made season 3 bad because of it. Idk who made that choice to take a lot of polin stuff and make it Eloise and Benedict instead… but I noticed and I didn’t like it. As for the Benedict thing, I think I exaggerated a little bit. Sorry. I should have been a bit more careful in my criticism of him. But I still would pick the bear.
4. Weird clothing, hair and makeup 5. Colin didn’t earn the love 6. Too many subplots 7. Would have liked to see more relationship and healing within the featherington household 8. Lady Whistledown keeping her job makes no sense 9. Too many instances where “that would never happen in that era” From dialogue to hand gestures, a woman walking around in a bad neighborhood by herself 10. Some scenes and dialogue felt forced 11. If violet didn’t get any, i don’t care about her flirting with lady danbury’s brother 12. I don’t care about Lady Danbury’s issues with her brother 13. Tired of Penelope apologizing for anything. I thought we were getting a girlboss. WTF. She was so WEEPY 14. The only enjoyable couple (John and Francesca) was totally cheapened by Francesca meeting her ‘true’ love just before the series ended 15.
Agree with all of them, especially 9: in previous seasons an unmarried woman ABSOLUTELY COULD NOT be alone with a man, not in the garden, not in her house or his house, not in a carriage, not visiting their future home after being betrothed. The couple being alone was scandalous unless they were married, and that was enforced by everyone. Kate who could say she dgaf about Anthony at the time and everyone would believe her didn't want to be alone with him in the library because she knew it was inappropriate and could ruin her reputation. And yet Colin and Penelope just... are alone all the time? Which would be way more suspicious, the Cazanova and his childhood friend who society deems desperate to marry, people would accuse them of seducing one another if they were alone ONCE, nevermind fifty times.
You're right about the makeover it was too much, it also makes it come across like she had to change the essence of who she was for Collin to actually like her. The makeover could've been her changing her dresses and hair but it could've been done in a manner that still stuck to her essence. I'm still sad about this season because it had so much potential, the stakes were there and the writers completely missed the mark. Also I wish Penelope hadn't revealed that she was whistledown publicly, it should've been a family secret cause there is no way she would've been accepted so easily realistically with all the stuff she said about people throughout the series
The book handles it much better I think. Penelopes story is about how she doesn't fit in anywhere. That's all she wants. Even lady whistledown is a proxy for respect and admiration. People hate whistledown but they also love her. Pen actually ends up leaving the business on her own and only comes back bc Cressida takes credit. But the secret gets leaked and Colin mf bridgerton makes a big speech and uses his whole family and all their influence and power and basically intimidates the entire crowd into accepting her. He was on that shit. It made her realise that she is accepted and she is loved and she is important to the people that are important to her. It wasn't girlbossing but it did fit the general bridgerton theme better than this. And actually since it made pen both feel belonging, gave her credit for her gossip empire, and allowed her and Colin to both write novels in their epilogue it kinda is girlbossing
As someone who read the book, the decision to not give them the time to grow before they began their romance bothered me a lot, ever since I heard they would be the couple in this season. On the books, she hears he wouldn't marry her many years before their romance begins, which means she has a lot of time to deal with her feelings and reality. Besides, since she is 28 when the book starts, Penelope's change comes from maturing, not jut changing clothes. So, both Penelope and Colin are adults when their relationship starts changing. This makes a lot of difference both because that gives about ten years for their friendship to develop somehow (since she knows he won't see her as a romantic partner, they truly become more friends than anything) and also allows them to mature separately, before they even begin their romance. Also, the fact that they didn't explore his writing well, making it just about the fact that he is a man and she is a woman in a patriarchy robs the story and their characters of a lot of depth. Anyway, it feels like we've been robbed of their actual relationship and given a lackluster version of it instead.
Thank you so much for saying this! I felt this exact thing when they were announced as the season 3 couple. I was so disappointed. I tried to wait and give the writers a chance but ultimately it seems like that initial feeling was spot on.
I agree they went way too far with Penelope’s makeover in the makeup department, it was giving 2016. I love Nicola so much since her Derry Girls days. The costume and makeup department were not it this season. The over the top makeup sent a message to me they thought they couldn’t rely on Nicola’s beauty. The beauty trend right now is “clean” aesthetic which goes along with the regency era. Don’t get me started on the fake nails 💀
ALLL OF THIS!! I'll be honest I was immediately turned off this season by the overt makeup on Pen. I totally agree that the show was basically saying that the only way for Colin to be attracted to her was if she was glammed up and almost hidden under makeup, synch waist, etc. I would've respected the show so much more if Colin fell in love with Season 1 and 2 Pen so the idea that she was fine already stood strong. Also, this is the minority, but I am really turned off by the overt sex in the show. I dunno, I don't mind it for some characters but I don't need or want it for EVERY. SINGLE. CHARACTER with a love interest. Do I need to see Pen's, Colin's or even Benedict's "O" face to get sucked into their stories. No. No, I do not.
I hated hated HATED how they ruined sweet innocent Colin of S1 & S2! I was looking forward to an innocent romance! But they just had to make him an icky rake. Ugh. 🤦♀️
The amount of stuff they changed compared to the book makes me think they devoted all their time to "updating" the material and not to fleshing out the budding chemistry of Colin and Penelope. There were so many good scenes they could've adapted! So many ways they could've made this work, but they just... didn't even try. It's such a shame. We needed flashbacks to their childhoods. We needed more natural banter between two people who were supposed to be such good friends. I was more invested in Pen and Eloise's falling out than I ever was in Polin's supposed romance. Don't even get me started on how toxic Colin was to Penelope when they were finally married. He treated her with such disrespect and contempt, and then has the gall to be upset when she, rightfully, says something about it! He went ahead and married her, gave her his approval, and then changed his mind in an instant. She deserved far better than being Colin's beautiful and talented show pony.
I didn't read the books though friends have and based upon what they said it's like the showrunners know nothing about Bridgerton. Unpopular opinion: Outlander and, yes, Twilight are some of the best adaptations created in the last 20 years. The writers understood and loved the material. The Bridgerton adaptation seems like an MFA student at a lesser university is writing the show. Bad doesn't even cover it. How about out of touch, too focused on their chance to put what they think would be a "cool" version of a Regency story on TV, and they do not understand romance at all. I could go on.
@@kaybanks8781 I read a lot of romance and I love drama TV shows and what I noticed when looking up Jess Brownell is that she's a drama writer and doesn't have any experience writing romance and that's why it's not working. She missed the assignment and then bungled up the drama part as well (probably because she was asked to adapt the scenes, because they were to drama-ly and that's what resulted in the re-shoots). I just can't understand how they could take this book and adapt it so badly. At least with Daphne and Simon as well as Anthony and Kate they enhanced their internal struggles, with Colin it's like they forgot he's the BRIDGERTON sibling. (Edit for typo)
@@barbarafrings9231 I am so seriously disappointed because I loved book Colin and I love show Colin, but I do believe that the writers hate him. They didn’t give us our intelligent, witty and charming man. I love masculinity and they sacrificed one of the best male characters for that woke girl boss crap. 💩
@@peggyspurlock3012 👍🏼Yes, we could have had a real romance if they had kept more of the book. Feel sorry for the actors, they could have shown so much more of their talent.
I seriously don't understand why most people still seemed to like it? I didn't even finish it, I was so bored of it halfway through. They had so few scenes together in the episodes I watched and didn't seem to make any sense together. I'm looking forward to Eloise seasons, I feel like that could be a good one.
It was so abysmal that I couldn't even give you any legendary lines. Where's that "I burn you?" "You're the bane of my existence?" Collin doesn't even have keading man energy? The music? I didn't realize there was music until someone pointed out that the music sounded odd in the background. Bring back Chris Van Dusen, please.
21:31 Yes Francesca and John! The whole speech she gave violet about love not having to be all grand gestures and intense was so refreshing coming from a brigerton character, then at the last 5 seconds of the show introducing someone, like you couldn't let them have some peace! I really hope it not a love triangle either, but if thats what they're going for at least have the introduction at the start of the next season jeez. I'll still be mad tho John is so sweet 😭 (I haven't read the books)
Totally agree on the "telling not showing" part of Colin. "He is so charming with the ladies" : at every ball the ladies swarm him for basically **existing**. And then the ladies he actually gets are the ones he pays.
Eloise was always mean, putting down other women's interests because they don't match hers. She was not a good friend to penelope. Let's be honest she was terrible to cressida. It low key made me hate her. The only saving grace is i remember how i hated Anthony in S1 but now he's my favorite bridgerton. I hope her season makes her interesting.
People using the numbers of viewers to defend this season is just pathetic. Maybe because many people who loved the show came back for more and also new viewers who were hyped up that this would be the best one Plus the viewership was earned by the trickery of splitting the season and absolutely great PR from NIC and LUKE
People using viewership are stupid asf. Ofc the season would have high views after taking forever to comeback with a very successful spinoff that helped keep and increase anticipation. But S3 will affect S4 viewership cause most people will now be more wary than excited for S4 so the show needs to be incredible so Word of mouth can carry it next season lol
And not just that, but the viewership doesn't matter if this is the same season that has long-time viewers choosing not to watch the next season at all and it has way more people on social media criticizing and dragging the show as a whole compared to the people who are actually praising it. Numbers don't mean anything if the quality is abysmal. A wise person once reminded us that McDonald's sells millions of burgers every day, but that doesn't make it quality cuisine. 🤷🏿♀️🫣
I completely agree with what you said! I was so disappointed by part 1 that it took me three weeks after the release of part 2 to start watching the final four episodes! I was not eager to finish the season because i was not invested in Polin's love story! I ended being much more interested in Eloise and Penelope's plotline, the few scenes of Kanthony and Penelope and her mother! So many missed opportunities and butchering of storylines in this season!
I think the reason Colin and Penelope have such a flat storyline is the writers took their entire book and gave it to Eloise and Benedict. Like they lifted entire scenes from their book and made them into scenes with Eloise and Benedict. So of course Colin doesn’t have a lot of development. His older brother stole his entire personality and value system. On another note, Benedict is my least favorite male lead. He is a very violent and disrespectful man and very self-absorbed. I hate him. I would not want to be in a room alone with him. If it was Benedict v bear I would choose bear. Meanwhile Eloise is the is very smart and kind person and a great friend and talented. In the show she is not always giving that kind friend energy. They also put one of her traits onto Kate. Eloise is the best marksmen in the family and frequently hunts with her brothers and makes them feel very humble as a result. She is the sister that makes them think about gender roles the most in the books and the show. Further, I think in hindsight, book Colin would have been a perfect queer character. He travels the world. He is charming. He doesn’t just charm unmarried ladies. He charms everyone he ever talks to. And most importantly, by the time he gets to his book, he is mature. He is 33 (the oldest male lead in the series) and ready to challenge his worldview. I think the showrunners for some reason thought an artist would be the natural queer character. A lot of people have queer identities. If anything I think having more queer characters from the start would have been better than the queerbaiting they did. They had a few queer original characters that were fan favorites. It just felt like they waited too long for Benedict to get there. Jess Brownell said she had pitched the queer Bridgerton storylines since season 1. I wish they didn’t put it off for as long as they did. It made seasons 1 and 2 so frustrating. Also, there is a cannon gay character in one of the books that I hope they introduce early and play around with more than they do in that book. I like show Benedict a lot. But that is because show Benedict is book Colin. Book Colin lives in a working class neighborhood and is inspired by their work. Book Colin wants a purpose in life. Book Colin immediately admires Penelope’s life’s work. He has a lot of feelings including anger and jealously and worry for her safety. And he also finds her inspiring. The two of them are really a team by the end of their book. Show Colin has so much stolen from him by Benedict. I hate that they did that to him. You can make Benedict in the show interesting without taking everything from Colin’s book.
No notes, it did fall flat in many many areas you mentioned. It was very entertaining from a drama standpoint, but didn't do the romance justice - and this is a romance show... right? Right?!
14:53 this. watching sammy bates colin bridgerton character analysis cured me after watching the writing production this season did not do him justice 16:01 i see no lies told here anyone who disagree can argue with the wall 18:35 this one too. i expect colin will have deep convo with violet too :' (but idk maybe they replace that with portia & pen convo + colin , anthony, benedict convo) 19:03 i concur with u, idk how many times i see my boy getting hate on SM 21:06 i actually roots for Debling and Cressida... then in part 2 he's nowhere to be seen 25:45 imo if im seeing mondriches then at least show us simon and daphne??? idk i skipped their scenes (also benedict, cressida )when i rewatched s3 26:46 SPOT ON. i always like benedict in s1 and s2 but after s3 idk man 27:04 they got nic and luke doing the PR, promoting scenes that didnt even exist, hyping up the romances etc. (i remember being told that polin has honeymoon phase and where were those?)
They need to bring Chris van Dusen back. I don’t expect award winning television from Bridgerton but I expect a somewhat coherent story that is entertaining. We didn’t get that this season
I absolutely agree with everything. Also, one quote from the book that they didn't include and I was absolutely dying to hear was his literal LOVE CONFESSION. Pathetic choice indeed.. "I love you with everything I am, everything I've been, and everything I hope to be. I love you with my past, and I love you for my future. I love you for the children we'll have and for the years we'll have together. I love you for every one of my smiles and even more, for every one of your smiles."
I agree that the other seasons were so much better that they can be redeemed but there was soooo much potential in this season that went to waist. Even Kanthony could have been so much better, like Daphne was in season 2.
I am not a friends to lovers fan because most of the time it is done badly. Only 3 times I actually like it. Also didn’t love his love confession like previous love confessions before. Didn’t like Colin before and now I just don’t really care. I wanted to get my Anthony treatment ( hated him in s1. After s2 and onwards I love him). Miss Chris as showrunner. Polin deserved more scenes so I could care for them more and fall inlove with them. Hopefully s4 is better. For me s3 is good for some side plots but s1,2,QC is amazing for ROMANCE. I can live with the season overall not being my favorite as a whole. Hope I will enjoy s4 more though tbh.
@@le_anntagonist Love Monica and Chandler from Friends, Zoey & Max from Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, and Luke & Julie from Julie & The Phantoms. Side note : I wanted to add Dwayne and Whitley from A Different World but idk I feel like they fall in the slow burned / forbidden love/ meant to be category vs friends to lovers for me.
I did love Polin season after watching it alot - and just watching the polin bits helps alot too. I also love friends to lovers. But i agree with most things you have pointed out. Its never been more obvious to me that i was watching a show with some of the terrible choices with how they shot or cut short scenes that we really needed longer with to feel the emotion. Colins character was so sidelined - and i feel like we didnt get enough screen time with him to process all the emotional changes he goes through. - having him not behave like himself when he returns then telling pen he found his true self while he was away - came off as confusing. becase he has so few lines, I felt like the things that he did say held a lot more weight, and i didnt understand when u have such a small time to understand these characters why u would throw this in there. I did feel like they spent more time energy, emphasis & attention to detail on the scripts for all the female friendships in this season - & for 'friends' to lovers we didnt get a lot of friendship conversations or witty banter with Polin. It definately felt more like a drama rather than romance which is sad because I feel like true romance is a genre that doesnt get much attention these days on the screne. The girl boss stuff really took me out of it too. It didnt feel true. Pen loved love, Eloise wanted to buck the system/patriarchy, Pen longed to be APART of the system, always on the outside looking in. I understand Pen can feel like writing was a part of her and whistledown was important to her - but making it a womens rights issue rather than it being a 'being true to urself' moment felt off. Agree with 'Jealous' song not noticeable - or the hearbeat in E3 watched it 15 times before i could hear it....just. Even at their wedding they spend 5 min togehter. And I just really struggle with their lack of communication for friends. I have to tell myself they are young, childish and cant communicate 😬. Cressida - Eloise was crazy! Jhon - franchescia was pointless! Bennidict - Tilly - Paul unnecessarily long didnt progress the story! So many storylines that took up so much time and ultimately didnt come to much. Lady danbury - Lord Anderson - Part 1 i was so intrigued i thought this man is messy & what he did was gonna be bad. - he was 10yrs old and she hasnt forgiven him....what?! I do love Polin but its was a hard first watch. I have had to appreciate it for what it is. It is my fav season cos 💛Polin - but its also the most problematic & the one ive had the most to say about it.
I think they lost their minds and thought it was okay not to get help. All they had to do was focus on Benedict and get him married while Colin started falling in love with Penelope in a more genuine way.
completely agree! although I didn't dislike the benedict stuff as much as you did until really near the end. I'm with you though that they completely fumbled the perfect set up earlier in the show to establish his bisexuality, with the artist dude. also so weird that they've completely dropped his love of art and his wish to pursue it. I was hoping they were going to use his three-way connection to show how sexual relationships don't have to be inherently romantic and that non monogamy can be fun and consensual rather than duplicitious and angsty (as an aro and non monog person myself I would have really appreciated this on a mainstream romance show). I thought this would be a really nice reverse parallel to the fran/john romance (my favourite couple of the season! they are adorable omg) which was so refreshing because it wasn't based on sex or passion or jealousy etc, it was much more about emotional compatibility and seemed really neurodivergent coded and maybe even asexual coded. I was getting really excited as the season went on that even with the disappointments around how they handed polin and eloise/cressida, the show was at least doing really good work in showcasing diverse relationships. then they completely tanked both the poly/non romantic benedict stuff AND the fran/john story and I was absoluely fuming :|
One thing I was hoping for this season, as a book reader was that Colin himself would realize him and Peneople's connection in deeper ways. In the book they both really bond over his writing even before he knows she's whistledown and Colin gets really vulnerable on finding his purpose. Another thing I would've loved to see is more cute/romantic scenes between the two. We were basically robbed of that during the second half when they actually got together.
I agree with everything! Also a thing I didnt really like, is that Penelope's sisters' never apologised!!! They were so mean to her for 2 seasons, and then season 3...all is well!!?
I hated how Pen and her sisters ended things. It’s unbelievable as someone with a terrible mean sister. Prudence is nice ONCE at her WEDDING and that’s it. That’s what we have to believe turned the tide for Pen to forgive her?? One kind on word on her literal wedding day?? Philipa is just… there? Like she doesn’t really say or do anything special but she’s less egregiously bad? Idk I hated it. Pen paying for their ball was infuriating to me. You don’t reward abusive family members because they’re nice once. You just don’t. That’s not a good message. They don’t have a love/hate sibling relationship. They seem to only have a painful hateful relationship. If they showed them having more loving sibling moments (even if they were few and far between) I could buy it more. But 2 full seasons of them being horrible to Pen and like 1-2 “nice” moments is NOT ENOUGH All I saw was prudence seeming upset and jealous of Pen and Portia. That’s it. In fact when she complimented pen it seemed sarcastic to me? I didn’t believe her at all but I guess she was supposed to be authentic there. Just felt wayyyyy too easy and I hated it!
couldn't agree more. benedict's storyline was downright absurd. all those threesome scenes between the brothers made me shutter - and not in the good way. it felt sleezy and made me dislike the male characters. when i watched it i got the feeling this show was made by people that don't really get why women read romance novels? like...at all? or who even reads and enjoys them? netflix : know your target audience, please! because even films like the old star wars movies were more romantic, more heartwarming when it comes to the main couple. that's concerning. honestly it feels like the new showrunner doesn't like men or doesn't want them to be portrayed in a positive light? sorry, colin and benedict were no pined-after-material this season. we spend so much time convincing violet that francesca and john's love story is as true as her siblings love stories and that love doesn't need to be messy and dramatic to be true love... just so that we can learn that it's all, in fact, a lie and that she just doesn't know better because she's secretly gay? oh come on, that one really made me mad. every conclusion of every conflict (lady danbury & marcus, penelope & colin, eloise & cressida) felt rushed when it came to the conclusion. so she was traumatized by her brother, he says "oops" and she goes "oh well...okay, you're allowed to seduce my best friend" ... excuse me? it felt flat. we grow to like cressida (kind of) and eloise just turns her back on her after a 5sec scene? really? what really irritates me is that the scores and reviews from rotten tomatoes and professionals are still very high. i have not spoken to a single person that liked this season. finally the one time left and right leaning audiences agree on something and it doesn't get picked up by media or critics? very sus, in my opinion.
19:32 Eloise really is my least favorite bridgerton. She is the kind of friend who only calls when she needs something. She is intelligent but doesn’t notice how privileged she is, it has become very annoying. I too hope she learns something in Scotland. Because of that I liked her plot with Cressida. Eloise needed to be humbled and Cressida was the perfect messenger for this. Doesn’t mean I like Cressida, i think she make a really good villain for the show.
Spot On with EVERYTHING you said. There is so much wrong with this season. Especially the ridiculous amount of time on all the subplots. It is like the writers/producers did not have the confidence in a Polin-focused Story. Not only did they cut screen time, but they had to cake on the makeover of the naturally beautiful Nicola. Sad. Missed Opportunity. More sex was devoted to Kanthony than the people the season was supposed to feature. Weird and telling.But I wasn't a fan of Season 2 either. They butchered that book too and made Kate and Anthony actually unlikeable. The book was not that way.
I adore Portia❤❤, I think Portia plays the hand she's been given perfectly. Love her😀❤. I've not really enjoyed this season, the only redeeming thing of season 3 is Kanthony, I only committed to watching season 3 because of them and we did not get enough of Kanthony😒
Colin wearing a mask is very much told and not shown, even in the book. We’re supposed to believe that his lack of correspondence with Penelope left a gaping hole in his heart that he’s now trying to fill with being a fuck boy. He mentioned that no one wrote him back in his travels which led him to journaling. So I do understand him coming back, trying to pretend to be something else. last year when he came back, everyone made fun of how much he rambled on about his travels. So I actually kind of understand him coming back and trying to be more like Anthony or Benedict when they’re single.
About the love coach part, I remember when the s3 summary was out, a lot of people complained that it's the same story as Simon and Daphne's. Maybe that's why they toned it down a bit? cause they didn't be accused of recycling old plots.
You are RIGHT about EVERYTHING here, especially with Penelope's 'girlboss' narrative that they tried to run while she spent all that time taking down other women. I agree with everything you said here.
There was a producer change between season 2 and 3. From Chris Vanducen to Jess Brownel. Usually, that's the major issue when they have different visions , o the whole look and tone changes.
And I think Colin in particular didn’t feel fully rounded as a character. He gave me whiplash. One minute he is mad at Penelope the next he is the luckest guy in the world to he with her. One minute he would never date Penelope and then one begged kiss later he is head over heals. They get together and then like 5 minutes later ( same night they get together) he gives the laziest "are you going to marry me or not" proposal ever. I was like barf if Penelope weren't so head over heals into Colin and she weren't "fingertized" ( like dickmatized but they didn't get there in that scene) from the carriage right before he asked I'd hope she'd be like "really bro; I thought you were a writer that is the only proposal you have?" Colin in season one is who Penelope loved not this " my travels" charm can be learned guy. His character just gets stuck in this unlikable space and then has a line or two thats like the old Colin. It's like the writters didn't know where his character was meant to develope next so they kind of just meshed his old and new self into a character who makes no sense.
0:00 1st sentence and I couldn’t agree more 3:30 maybe love coach trope polin is a friend we made along the way 😭😂 08:01 ohhh how i want the “I love you with everything I am, everything I've been, and everything I hope to be. love you with my past, and I love you for my future” confession to be included in the show🥲 Actually theres more dialogue from the book BUT it is done poorly and didn’t show much context on how its delivered💀 I like polin so so much but imo it’s done with poor, bad and lazy writing (numerous examples tbh). Honestly idk if CVD can pull this trope either (as ive seen on twitter abt people saying that he also will ruin polin) but watching numerous opinions and suggestive writings to this season from bridgerton fans never fails to make me feel robbed.. Anyways, i don’t really think that s3 is flopped considering how Nicola and Luke were doing such a great job and justice to their characters despite given so little 👏🏻
Okay I might be late but I was discussing this with my friend and hear me out: They could've gave Benedict an art school romance side story with a male character to reveal him being bi and not have a female "love" interest for him at all this season. They could've built it slowly and ended it with the love interest marrying someone else because of societal rules. It would lead to Benedict questioning societal rules (a perfect set up for Sophie I think) and leaving him heartbroken for a while would also lead to a) wholesome sibling moment b) him meeiting sophie at ball and having fun after being depressed for a year or so... Idk I just think that fans would love it (DPS, Maurice kinda storyline, dark academia, they could've used "war of hearts" for the wedding scene) and it would be much more meaningful fo his storyline (why he quit art,etc)
Colin had absolutely no personality. It made sense to not know much about him in the first 2 seasons but this was supposed to be HIS season! Why wasn't he the main character in his season?! I didn't watch any of the press tour so I can't speak to the actors so called chemistry except it very much did not translate onto the screen and I am utterly baffled by people who loved this season so much.
To be honest I was 100% sure that the lady Benedict had romantic suplot is going to dump him at the end of the season not the other way around💀 It felt bit out of character on her part and we had so little screen time with her
The ending was WAY TOO EASY. Penelope got off way too easily and now that we all know she is lady whistle down, how are they going to carry on that dynamic? Like that’s just gonna be boring now
Such a good video! I agree with everything you mentioned, and, honestly, there are still more things you could have complained about. I was so excited about this season because I also enjoy friends-to-lovers, and I’ve been invested in Colin and Penelope since the pilot episode. But this season was such a huge letdown. I feel like the only thing I got from the show was the chance to see these actors in these roles so that I can more easily picture them when I go read the book again or read fan fiction to get that romance story satisfaction. Like, it was so unfulfilling that I don’t understand why they adapted their story at all. Besides Portia this season, the only thing the show did that was more interesting than the book was the Pen and Eloise friendship, which was still fumbled, but I can at least really appreciate that storyline and what they were trying to do.
5011 plot lines! 🤣 I fast-forwarded most of Benedict's scenes this season and he WAS a favorite character. I love your video and agree with your assessment. Portia's arc surprisingly satisfying this season.
I love the point that they were trying too hard to make her look beautiful. It's like they're saying, "look she can be beautiful despite her size." They should have just left it at she already was and is beautiful. Period.
Yea finally someone talks avout how weird cressida and fransescas storys were! (Sorry of I misspelled the names) I only started with that season and was soo sad for Cressida!
Too many story lines, negative chemistry, soap opera conflict. Yeah. They lost me. Never even watched the second half of season 3.I was bored. I like the Queen Charlotte spinoff, though.
It was ultimately just boring, how could this season with FOUR budding romances (Penelope’s, Francesca’s, Benedict’s, and Violet’s) possible be so uninteresting. Where I was literally unable to pull my eyes away from the first two seasons I watched two episodes of season 3, fell asleep and didn’t pick up again for days. I’m not saying there are no interesting moments but you know. In my opinion Collin is such an undeveloped character that he cannot stand on his own, like he doesn’t get scenes alone to feel and process his feelings like Anthony and Daphne did because he doesn’t have any, he isn’t a characters at all unless there’s someone else in the scene for him to play off of. Literally the star of the season and we know nothing about him other than that he likes to travel and that shouldn’t be the case for a character we’ve known for three seasons. Also it feels like he just turns his feelings for Penelope on all of a sudden it felt artificial to me and the chemistry was nonexistent.
The writers did Colin and Pen dirty. That season was shit and it is not the actors' fault. We were supposed to be getting a Miss Congeniality type story, and we got no scenes with the make over her training. We did get where there was a real love interest for Pen to make Colin jealous. Or where Pen in put in a situation where she has to choose been 2 guys she loves. Got unnecessary and uninteresting back stories other than puffy sholders girl. Waste of great characters. Season 3 needs a do over with a better show runner and story.
i dont think they're gonna do a love triangle with mckayla, i feel pretty confident they're gonna kill john off at the beginning of her season. ALSO! there have been hints, super subtle but definitely present, that the mondrich's son is going to be a love interest for the young bridgerton daughter. hyacinth, thats her name lol. i agree 100% their presence needs to be justified way more NOW, but i do think there's a larger story being told about them that will pay off down the line in the final season
As a long time fan of the books I was excited about the new show but had some niggling doubts as Hollywood was making it. Once I started watching the series and as per my doubts each season was more disappointing than the previous one for a number of reasons. The main reason is they have strayed too far from the books and they have added 20th century agendas and views into the show 🙄 The cast were lovely but the story line was so cringe and they destroyed some of the main characters so much so they became unlikeable. It was like watching a train crash happening in slow motion 😬 Each to their own but it does nothing for me so I will not be watching the remainder of the series. Will definitely stick to the books. Happy that others are enjoying it but I am definitely out.
Nicola Coughlan carried this season on her back. I wanted more like the book. We needed to see the intricacies of the Polin couple. Maybe season 4 will have more to their story. Who knows?
They could have skipped Colin’s encounters with the prostitutes. They had no merit in the story. And compared to e.g. the first season, I hated the heavy makeup. E.g. Penelope and Francesca (the actresses) have natural beauty and the makeup looked clownish to me. Or is it my TV settings?
I feel like the whole season reinforced that the fat girls love story isn’t important. She wasn’t a main character in her own story, people were unnecessarily rude to her, she only could stand out if she changed her own appearance, and Colin was just plain rude and married her for pity. I felt terrible for her their connection turned super sexual out of nowhere
Not me totally forgetting to talk about Kanthony 💀
lol, I’m a Kanthony Stan and I was waiting for your feedback.
What are your thoughts? Do you think they will return for future seasons - I don’t know what to expect with Jess Brownell
Don't even bother, sis. They were cute and fine but I thought Kate and Anthony would've had a slightly bigger role and the roles that they did play in the Polin relationship just felt like cutaways to me. Like they just put that there for the sake of fan service and not because it mattered. Idk. The entire press tore was more interesting than the season itself and it felt like the tore was used to make up for what was lacking in their own season. Nothing makes any sense and it makes me so mad
I think they’re gonna have a hard time juggling kanthony and now polin. But I hope they bring them back and actually give them interesting subplots 😂
I heard the actors have signed up for the next season (polin too) so hoping to see them 🙏🏾 hopefully they’re fully in their viscount and viscountess roles
@@le_anntagonistdo you speak French?
They really GASLIT us girl😭✋🏽. How are you gonna NOT give the couple that has the most history ZERO backstory and flashbacks? It's a show with actors, is it not? Show us, not tell us. They didn't even use half or a third of what was in the books. I barely know Colin and he's the Bridgerton and i know so much about Penelope and he felt like a prop in his own season. Terrible writing and tahts why it felt so flat. They told ys that we were getting romcom....umm where was the Rom, where was the Com??????
In my notes i wrote, "Ass editing" 😭. I read that book twice, was so excited for the season. It wasn't good at all
I think they gave almost everything about Colin and Penelope to Eloise and Benedict. Like most of Eloise’s season 1 speeches are speeches Penelope gives to Colin. Almost everything Colin values is given to Benedict. Somehow they took everything we loved about Colin and Penelope to Benedict and Eloise. And you know what? It did not make Eloise more likable. It made Benedict more likable. I just hate it. Colin is this man of the world that values interpersonal relationships and values working people and finds inspiration in them. Meanwhile book Benedict goes on and on telling his love interest that he doesn’t respect her and doesn’t want to be seen with her in public and that if she complains about him too much he will file a false police report and have her hung or exiled to Australia. What a great and romantic guy. They also made Benedict the bi character. I think Colin would have fit that better based on his book as a charming man of the world that respects the hell out of people. I feel so robbed of Colin and Pen because the writers favored Benedict and Eloise. Benedict is my second least favorite character after Daphne. And Benedict is in my top 10 of worst romance novel men I have read out of dozens of books I have read. I hate his character so much in the books. And in the show I am just annoyed that he stole Colin’s personality’s
I feel like the script writers didn't even bother to read the book. If they had, this would have been easier for them to pull off.
@InfinitelyRay agreed with the colin part, he had so much character in the books, where as here he was absent completely.
Lesson thinmtbd😊😊
FINALLY!!! I HAVE BEEN SAYING THIS! why didn't we get any back story of when pen created whisteldown or when Collin was traveling or when they were younger like ughh
seeing penelope with a full beat, nails and lashes in every scene was beyond my understanding
As a visual artist it was really jarring for me to see such soft looks in previous season, which were mostly all "no make up" make up looks, being contrasted with the make up they chose for Penelope. It was really throwing me off. She would have looked lovely with much softer and lighter make up
Yes abd un the kast episode i felt like the Red Lip aged her. It just didn't work imo. The makeup for her wedding was ideal.
Agreed them diminishing male characters solely to make the females look good isn't empowerment its just bad writing
Which just makes the entire point about booting the director true. We need refurbished plotlines. This is not looking good. I don't want Bridgerton to stop like other Shondaland Works. Because there is a possibility, if they run the way they are rn, viewers gonna stick around for only another season.
I hate when that happens. That seems sexist in of itself.
Bendetict being pan wasn’t the issue. It was him being used as a sex doll. I get the aimless plot they wanted him to have, but you can do that without objectifying him.
And Colin deserved way better. He was a good character in previous seasons and am glad that most of him searching for a purpose arc was in season 2 because that way we can mainly focus on the romance between Penelope and Colin, but they just made him angsty and a rake which wasn’t his character.
Both he and Penelope argued from time to time about LW and internalized, but they communicated and got to the root of their issues.
And they had happy moments in between all of that. They didn’t stop talking altogether. The show just made Colin look like a jerk. He had his jerkish moments in the book, but he wasn’t just sulking around ignoring Pen either.
i’m glad we’re not pretending that this season was any good. they didn’t even try this time around. and really the question is why? the actors had chemistry, we saw that in their interviews. and they already had a two season build up. everything was set up for success already. so the fact that they managed to screw it up is so crazy to me.
I was ready to be blown away and yet…😮💨
The press tour was more romantic than the show’s romance. They literally took two people with natural chemistry and turned them into a caricature.
I think their biggest mistake was going out of order. I think they really could have done Benedict's season first, and have Colin be on his trip for the full season and he comes back at the end of the season. That's more in line with what happened in the book, Colin was away for a long period of time and that's why he comes back a "changed man". How they played it in the series he was away for THREE/FOUR MONTHS and he has been away for that same period of time before. What made this trip different?
They had a different show runner
IK
4:30 exactly, I thought we would see 'throwback stories and memorable moments' because Pen and Colin had known each other since they were children.
Uughh their flashback would’ve ate 😫
It'd have been so cool if they shot a flashback with different POV'S of the same event, like how they met. A child Colin getting ready to ride his horse in the park with his brothers. They joke around, or maybe Colin tags along to the annoyance of his brothers. And little Penelope notices him from her window, she's admired the Bridgertons from afar since moving in but has never met them. Her sisters tease her for moping, her mother says they're going to promenade so they can socialize with the Ton since their neighbors have been so rude as to not have called on their new neighbors!
Quick cuts back and forth, super dramatic between Pen's who's growing anxiety at following her family vs. Colin who may be arguing with his brothers. Colin isn't paying attention, Penelope's bonnet does loop de loops off her head, smacks him in the face. Off he falls. Pen is stressed out, Portia is about to be stormin, Colin laughs, Pen smiles and urged on by Colin she makes a joke and is incredibly charming.
And later on maybe Colin sees Penelope and wants to speak to her, but Eloise gets to her first and "steals" her away because she just knows they'll be the best of friends. I believe Colin meets Pen before El in the books, Colin being Penelope's first friend while Eloise is her best, would've been an interesting dynamic to further explore.
Uff, koreans dramas are so good with this!, they give flashback and we see one side of the story and later bum!, they showed us the other point of view and revelations, just great tv... I highly recommend korean romcoms and dramas! 😊
I agree about the messaging around Penelope’s glow up. It was so dissatisfying, it wouldn’t have been so bad if they had balanced it out with more natural looks but they really didn’t. It was so frustrating that in the epilogue scene where Penelope is postpartum with a young baby she is still glammed up. She is with her family! Give her a break!
Yeah for sure I think more balance in the looks would’ve helped a lot!
Yes I also don't agree with the entire glow up thing before you meet your true love concept like wth?? True love is the love that is even valid while your Butt ugly not just when you're all prim and proper. I love Pen's aesthetic before as well, and they switched things up entirely as though the previous version wasn't catching eyes and yall gotta look dope to be with someone. And then we wonder why the beauty standards are so toxic. Like bring back the naturality, let's appreciate our unique pretty queens.
In the books they go into how Lady Whistledown happened. Pen wasn't looking to be an author, she was venting about a ball because she was being bullied and I was basically a journal entry. Her father's attorney found it and he encouraged her to publish it because it was funny. He also set it all up, he git the publisher, he delivered the articles, and arrange her payments ans every. He even set things up while he was dying so she could carry on after he dies ( I goes on for 10 years in the book).
That sounds so much more believable for the time period. Shame they robbed us TV viewers of a reasonable explanation like that!
And I like it way better because also lady Whistledown isn’t as destructive in the books it’s more fun they made lady Whistledown too much of a big part of the show and she’s very terrible
This is so fun wth? Also it would give Pen a father figure in a way, and be another reason to encourage her to keep the role as LW. It's the only way she can express herself and connect with the only person who encouraged her
Oh reading this actually makes me sad, it sounds like so much fun and a really sweet backstory for Lady Whistledown. Wish they'd gone more this way than make LW so meanspirited and cruel
This season should have been called Featherington. They ate the whole season
They also had the scenes / lines I enjoyed most! "Inserts himself where?" and "the buuuuugs!" ( followed by Benedict and the macarons)
If Jess Brownell was smart, she'd be camped in the comment sections, because I refuse to be disrespected in S4 like I was in S3 as a viewer
She's too busy making it for herself to care about the viewers. I don't even i terrace with their instsfrsm anymore because the marketing is too much snd thrbshiw was a disappointment and that dry as the Saharah desert sex scene makes me cringe hard.
I don't think she cares, shw didn't care about the so called main couple. She was needlessly cruel to Penelope 80% Colin's role this season was facial expressions.
@@805jessiegirlColin is a mere plot device in his own season😅
Jess has already proven she is not even slightly smart, so I have zero hopes for season 4. They need to bring Chris back. 😔
AMEN TO THAT!!💯💯
Yesss, you nailed exactly my thoughts during this season. The lack of pining from Colin plus the desperation of Penelope -brotha eugh. Also the threesomes from both brothers was just too much. It was definitely a flop, especially after QC devoured last year.
Aww I’d have to disagree! In the books, Colin doesn’t pine for her at all-there is no lord Debling, no other suitors come up to Penelope. Basically Colin gets her as soon as he realizes he wants her. Zero pining in the book, it was disappointing. At least in the show we got to see Colin get jealous!
Also the threesome with Colin to me represented the two personalities he was in bed with-he’s in love with two women: Pen and Lady Whistledown 😅
The threesome between Benedict was boring and repetitive (on purpose, I think) to show how tiresome this lifestyle is going to get to Ben pretty quickly. He’s going to want something more substantial soon.
I think with season 3, you really have to read behind the lines and look for the subtle symbolism going on! That’s why it’s my favorite season so far, and it’s why it only gets better every time I rewatch it
@@MAYBEE90 where did you disagree with me in that reply? I said he didn’t pine for her and you said he doesn’t pine for her in the book. 😅
I’m glad you enjoyed it though!!
Oh, when it comes to amazing, super quotable love confessions from the book, I CANNOT believe this didn’t make it into the show:
“I love you,” he said, his voice low and fervent. “I love you with everything I am, everything I’ve been, and everything I hope to be.” “Colin . . .” “I love you with my past, and I love you for my future.” He bent forward and kissed her, once, softly, on the lips. “I love you for the children we’ll have and for the years we’ll have together. I love you for every one of my smiles, and even more, for every one of your smiles.” Penelope sagged against the back of a nearby chair. “I love you,” he repeated. “You know that, don’t you?”
Bruuuhhhh that’s so nice why wouldn’t they use that?! 😭😭
GIRL, that was a read!!! I might have to go check the books out, because this season had me stop by episode three.... UGH!
Oh this would have had me SWOOOOONING had i heard this in the show!!! like omg that is beyond beautiful
My review: I want a redo.
I completely agree with you. This season failed to tell its story. It just felt like there were multiple pieces that could have been interesting, but they just abandoned them part way through. The flirting lessons, Colin's toxic masculinity phase, and Cressida's redemption all could have been interesting, but they did not tell the story enough for us to care.
Can we also address how they played in our faces especially plus sized women? They played it up on the press tour the whole big girl land hot guy thing, even the first trailer was catered that way and after ALL that, they had Penelope begging for kisses, spent her wedding stressed, and her wedding night ignored.
The writers butchered Colin's character so bad but what they did to Pen was just cruel.
The entire season was “tell” not “show” and I was so over it
Finally someone said ittt
The whole girl boss feminist lady whisledown was soooo forced.
Literally agree with everything you said it's like you've gotten everything i had on my mind 👏👏👏
Yeah the girl bossing too close to the sun stuff wasn’t it this season 🥴😂
Do we have to remind everybody that this series has always been a two-hander more than it is an actual ensemble show that Jess Brownell wants to force it as? It has always been firstly ABOUT a Bridgerton sibling AND their love interest. The rest of the characters are used as preparation for yet another Bridgerton sibling in the next seasons. The Bridgerton family member's name is written on a tree in every new season's show intro. It will always revolve around them or at least it should be, meaning that they should have more screen time and proper development. It's that simple!
There are arguments in forums and in character analysis videos, demanding us to go back to S1-2 just to "pay attention" to Colin's microexpressions and body language. But if you really look at the bigger picture here, S1 and 2 isn't AT ALL Colin's own season spotlight. S1 is about Daphne, S2 is about Anthony, and yes Colin together with every other sibling has been slowly developing. The question for Colin in S3 now is, what ELSE do we have to know besides what we ALREADY know back in the previous seasons? Hence, some people wanting a flashback or some type of proper exposition to understand this OLDER Colin rather than grasping whatever crumb is left of him in S1-2.
HOW did he WANT to get into writing? What happened that made him realize that he needed to put up this "armor" or facade all of a sudden? Better yet, what happened during his travels that made him this way? Could they at least fill us in with that? Colin came back to Mayfair in S3 after a YEAR. A lot can happen in a year. Was he getting lonely in his travels? The only thing we got is Penelope stopped writing to him - even to that they couldn't show us. Telling us isn't enough.
And why are you making me go back to a younger Colin and to some event that happened two years ago? It doesn't exactly explain why he became a rake nor how he led up to become a writer. Whatever people say at this point is all subject to speculation. We go back to previous seasons and imagine it all ourselves to fill in the gaps. It's weak. That's why this entire season has an unearned payoff.
We all know who Colin is, but not well enough as we should have.
OMG! I saw the same thing. They were reading into every little thing and trying to tell us what it means because they read the books. But here’s the thing, it’s a tv show. The audience shouldn’t have to read the series to understand what’s happening in the show. That’s ridiculous. I told them that in the comments and they got mad! 😂
@@LoveK1 I read the book, and honestly, show!Colin and book!Colin don't have a lot in common when it comes to Lady Whistledown, and if people say that I should look at the book, they are not reading the same book as I was. Book!Colin was terrified (!) and mad that Pen put herself in danger to be Lady Whistledown, he was mad what might happen to her if people found out, and yes, he was jealous of her writing because he had issues with his own writing, but all of that is not or almost no issue in the show ... it's just ... lacking.
@@buchbummelant8980 yes and show Colin got mad about Penelope publishing again because he believes that they are partners and that they had agreed she wouldn’t. Colin is treated as lesser in the show, and it is affecting Luke Newton’s career because it looks like he cannot carry off a leading role.
Sorry I meant book Colin.
@@peggyspurlock3012 THIIIIS!! I was thinking the exact same thing, I thought Colin, as a character...was not ready to be the lead, he was young, made bad decisions (Marina) and suddenly they needed him to fall for Penelope as quick as possible with a very lacking plot. It could have been handled better, and the worst thing is that Luke was left exposed and vulnerable (as an actor and as a person) because of the lack of development on his character and the bad writing. They did him SO wrong, it makes me mad, he didn't deserve this. :c
I think season 3 flopped because it's no longer a CVD production. It was his show, and he knew how to beautifully adapt the books to the show. I really missed his touch this season.
Tf?? the other 2 season were a mess, this is more true to the books that the second season that is pretty much a fanfic,
@@1Pinkballoon more true to the book doesn't mean a better told/coherent visual story. Book readers tend to fill in the blank spaces that is missing in the visual adaptation in a way that those who haven't read the books can't. Not a bad thing, or a critique just a perspective to consider as to why some groups have such wildly different experiences of the same media.
@@reading1713 well this is coming from a book fan I didn’t like season one, but that’s on me cause I don’t like the couple dynamic not in the show or the books, but I loved the introduction of all the characters and the world of Bridgerton, but season 2, keep in mind that is one of my favorites books, that story was completely destroyed for me, they made so many stuff wrong starting for Anthony asking Edwina to marry him and almost doing so? Like why would you put Kate in the position where she ended up with the man her sister almost married? For the sake of drama? Even when I enjoy season 2 way more than season 1, they created a whole new story that frustrated me more that it serves me, enemies to lovers? Right? 7 out of 8 ep being enemies, like really? And waiting till the end of ep 6 to have a first kiss, in the church you sister almost got merry 2 minutes after she call of the wedding, listen, I don’t know why they decided to do this this but the story in the books is way more interesting and at least they both had morals, Anthony from the books could not even court Edwina properly cause he could not stop thinking about Kate, so he never proposed to Edwina …. But anyway, this season is the better one for me and it has actual romance, and also they added more stuff like the wedding and more kisses, and also the give depth to Colin he is pretty plain in the books, Penelope is always the main character, and I like she didn’t give up LW, over all this is the season(3) that give me more joy than disappointment, but then again I know is my opinion, we can always disagree.
I think the only good thing was definitely Queen Charlotte, that funnily enough, isn’t based of any book. lol
@@1Pinkballoon I read the book and I enjoyed it, but I preferred the adaptation. The visualization was more exciting, because of the chemistry between the actors who played Anthony and Kate.
I hated what they did to Colin/Luke. Where was he? He was absent during his own season
They really GASLIT us girl😭✋🏽. How are you gonna NOT give the couple that has the most history ZERO backstory and flashbacks? It's a show with actors, is it not? Show us, not tell us. They didn't even use half or a third of what was in the books. I barely know Colin and he's the Bridgerton and i know so much about Penelope and he felt like a prop in his own season. Terrible writing and tahts why it felt so flat.
I found my people! I thought this season was bad. I didn't like the majority of it. My coworkers and friends made me feel like the biggest hater (I AM) but for other reasons. You expressed how I felt so well. It feels so good to be heard lol
You’re safe here LOL 😂
Flashbacks would've helped, and were a missed opportunity in so many ways. Show us young Pen, Colin, and El. Show us the Featheringtons moving in, Colin falling off the horse. Show us the inception of Lady Whistledown.
I think Edmund's death (and Hyacinth's birth) is a really crucial point for all of the Bridgertons. And while repetitive, I think it should've been addressed again in a flashback for Colin. For Daphne, it cements the idealized love of her parents . For Anthony it's the root of his trauma and fears. Violet tells us that Colin is the most sensitive of her children, he's always quick with a joke to lighten the mood, he rarely puts himself first, etc. What if we saw Edmund doing the same? Maybe little Colin is upset with his brothers or something sad happens and Colin is crying. Colin could feel insecure because his two older brothers spend more time with their father, he's a third son, does he even matter? Edmund goes to comfort his sensitive son, he makes him feel seen, and even tells a joke.
I got chewed out for this on another site for suggesting this but I think they should've used Anthony's character as a source for Colin's insecurities. Anthony hardened himself after the trauma of Edmund's death, he became emotionally distant. In becoming the viscount/lead of the household, he becomes a father figure, especially to the younger children. Colin is probably what? 9 or 10 when his father dies?
We see Anthony telling Colin in Season 1, Colin should've "wet his wick" and "sown his oats" more (and while he apologized words like that don't always leave you) and in Season 3, Anthony likes how Colin has a bunch of new admirers. Colin's newfound rakishness is supposedly because of his insecurity, this is a tv show, show us how that make have taken root. Show us a scene similar to my hypothetical Edmund scene with Anthony or maybe Colin has an emotional moment about Edmund after he died. Anthony, who is bottling his emotions, who Daphne said never cried after their father's passing, cannot handle it. He lashes out at Colin instead of comforting him.
Then maybe have another scene. All the children are gathered, Violet too. They look morose, sad, still in deep mourning. Then something happens, it prompts Colin to say a joke, maybe he even says the exact joke his father told him. Everyone laughs, even Violet. It's the first time since Edmund's death, and he feels proud, he feels good, and he realizes this is what people want from him, this is who he should be, not that sensitive little boy. And the season could've helped build on this with him and Anthony hashing it out, with Colin and Anthony having a newfound understanding of one another, especially since Anthony has changed since being with Kate while Colin has regressed by trying to be something he is not.
And maybe Pen meets Colin and El the season after Edmund's death? She's a sunny spot during a sad time. And they both give each other what they need, for Pen it's Colin's kindness and understanding. For Colin, it's Penelope's unwavering support and appreciation.
I basically just wrote the outline for a fanfic but Christ this season had so much potential and I'm still MAD about it. Especially for Mr. Bridgerton!
Please write fanfiction, this is amazing
I agree with everything you said and to add the speech Pen gives to Colin at their wedding brunch lowkey contradicts what her final speech says, what she said to Eloise at the end of s2 and overall what lady whistledown means in general. Lady Whistledown is supposed to be a reflection of their society. In their book(pen n Colin) she stands up to his criticism and tells him outright what her work means to her and why she writes. Like i feel the season lost what lady whistledown is supposed to mean, instead of highlighting that why do we the audience and the characters react harshly when it comes to knowing Penelope is Lady Whistledown compared to how we see characters including the Bridgertons be just as cutting and judgmental. The book tackles it in a better way i feel
The S3 writers expected us to look at S1 & S2 for the Polin backstory, but then ignore how Violet Bridgerton herself used Whistledown to get Daphne out of being forced to marry Nigel Berbrooke. And even in S3, they have Penelope saving Eloise (again) by publishing that column - after Eloise (again) put her family in danger of ruination - but then Eloise is all, 'oooh, sorry, Pen, can't help you explain to Colin why you did that b/c it's not my problem.'
She gave the why I did what I did speech to Eloise and not Collin. Meanwhile, Collin is telling everyone what Pen means to him and not her. The carriage scene is the worst because he gives this long speech but not an I love you.
“Mewing into the distance” has me weakkkk 😂
I blame the idiotic new show runner. She was so desperate to put her own fantasies in Bridgerton that she forgot to do her job. And I LOVE Penelope!!! She's been my favorite character since Day One, so I left season 3 feeling hollow, disappointed, and confused. 📣 *This Was Supposed To Be HER Season!!!!* And, instead, we got tired, unnecessary threesomes and the Regency era version of The Jeffersons with the Mondrich family. 🙄😒🤬
I agree with your insights. Thee were some fine moments in Season 3. The Featherington women storyline was good. The Francesca John courtship was good until it wasn't with the infamous wedding scene. A lot of people swear Season 3 is the best. I don't understand it. I don't see it. But if that is how people feel, good for them
I can't help but think the showrunner and hear team, just don't understand the point of Bridgerton. It's ironic because the showrunner Jess Brownell had been a Bridgerton writer for Seasons 1 and 2. The men in the Bridgerton books, (I have 3 so far), don't do much, but they do have quite deep emotions and feelings. I'm not just referring to their romantic feelings. The men in Seasons 1 and 2 are struggling with deep emotional scars that they need to overcome in order to find happiness with their love partner. Colin is pretty flat. We see him get mad over Lady Whistledown and it all seems kind of petty. I don't think the writers understand who Colin is. We understand Lady Danbury's brother and his attraction to Violet. We understand John Stirling and his feelings for Francesca. The whole Kate and Anthony was annoying, but I understood Anthony. In the book Colin and Penelope don't get together until she is in her late 20's and has resigned herself to being a spinster. Colin is over 30. I think that makes a big difference in how their romance would develop that cannot be captured by the timeframe presented in the Netflix series. Maybe the showrunners should have respected the timeline in the book.
I hope there will be more discussion about what went wrong in Season 3. I am not interested in bashing anyone. Rather, they spent so much money on promotion and teasers and marketing, but the final product was "meh." Why? What does it say about people who think Season 3 was the best season? I just wonder what the showrunner will make from people's comments and reactions and how that will shape Season 4. I just finished "An Offer from a Gentleman" that is Benedict's story. It's a really good story in terms of how it is written, the substance of the romance and the character development. It's much more about class and society than passion. I can see Luke Thompson doing a great job with this role, if it is handled maturely and not jammed with simplistic tropes and extraneous side plots.
Benedict is my least favorite book male lead. He really comes off as this disrespectful violent man. I hate it.
And show Benedict is only likable because he stole book Colin’s values and personality. And Eloise stole all of Penelope’s values and personality. Why the showrunners did that to Penelope and Colin baffles me. Like they lifted text verbatim from “romancing mr. Bridgerton” and had Eloise deliver them to Benedict instead. I also think that book Colin would make more sense as a queer character. He is a charming man that travels the world. He is very open minded in a way his siblings are not. But alas, the show chose to prioritize Benedict at the expense of Colin. I mean don’t get me wrong, show Benedict has a lot going for him. But that is only because he stole Colin’s personality and values.
@@InfinitelyRay Thank you for sharing. Yes, I did pick up that Book Colin seems a lot like Netflix/Shondaland Benedict minus the threesomes. I just finished An Offer From a Gentleman - Benedict's story. When is Benedict violent? Does it happen in Colin's timeline? Yes, the showrunners do some clever changing of characters. Hyacinth and Felicity Featherington, who is not in the series, seem an awful lot like Netflix Eloise and Penelope. I am starting to understand why it was so easy for the showrunners to genderswap Michael/Michaela. They have been swapping and altering characters all along. No wonder the storyline seems off to me.
@@gems3604 The show has steadily been moving away from the source material. And I think it is ok ish. Selling the show as they did and are still doing is not consistent with the product they produced. They made a lot of changes to the source material. But adaptations have sucked for time immemorial. Look at Ella Enchanted. The movie is fun. It is not a good adaptation for book fans. The Hunger Games got rid of Madge, who I wish was in the movies. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society changed most of the story for the worse. Stardust was changed a bit. Every Wonka movie messes up something significantly somehow. All the live-action Disney movie remakes has had people pissed at the changes. The jungle book and Tarzan were both super racist books. The movies are different. The snow queen and frozen barely resemble each other. The little mermaid has a happy ending. So many adaptations change a lot of things. And people don’t keep that in mind when watching an adaptation.
I think it is hard for book fans to get on board with what feels like large changes to the source material. The show was billed as following the love lives of each sibling highlighting a new sibling each season. Season 3 played more like an ensemble cast and was a big departure in format for a lot of viewers and book fans.
I agree that if you have 8 kids, probably one of them is going to have a queer identity. I also get the point that original characters are more compelling than changing characters in the books. It is really hard to be a showruner that wants queer love and also wanting to make book fans feel like the books are coming to life. Jess Brownell said that the queerbaiting in seasons 1 and 2 were on purpose. I think they didn’t need to build it up over 3 seasons. Benedict is already an adult in season 1. It would have been fine to just open with that. I guess maybe they were afraid of scaring away book fans too soon. I am not sure what the best move would have been for that. We are in the future. The first season was written I think like 2018 I read… it was a different world in a lot of ways to 2024. Some days it feels like we are heading back to the dark ages in America with all the attacks on the queer communities especially in Florida. Sometimes it feels like more people are finding the world is safer to come out in. And the books were written in the 90s and early 2000s. Ancient. We had barely any queer representation in the media in the 90s. The biggest one is Ross’s ex-wife in Friends.
I think that Bridgerton season 3 really made mistakes in the way they introduced the queer storylines. A lot of people for instance are excited about the gender swap. A lot of people were gutted by it. A lot of people are using this opportunity to make as many homophobic comments that they can because they have an excuse that it is about the adaptation and not about queer love. I think for a lot of people that didn’t read the books and were confused by the gender swap is because of bad execution. I think they should have followed it how it is done in the books. Which is Francesca thinking of Michaela as a blob related to her husband and Michaela acting flustered. It really did make it feel like John didn’t matter and Francesca is going to cheat on him. Would that have stopped people from being mad? No. People don’t like it for many reasons. Some of those reasons are just homophobic reasons. And some reasons are because 1 in 6 people of all identities have infertility issues and readers are worried that the show won’t explore that topic. I don’t know if they will explore it. I think they can have both storylines easy. It won’t be the same. But, how much of Bridgerton is the same?
Like you mentioned, they took out Felicity. They changed who the Featherington sisters married. They changed the Featherington’s title. They changed Marina. They added in Queen Charlotte. Obvi they decided to hire a lot of people of color. Something a lot of people overlook is Julia Quinn in a panel talked about why she didn’t write about people of color being because she didn’t know how to write happy endings in a racist world of England in the 1800s. Shonda and CVD decided that they would find a way to make those happy endings. I think that was a good decision to make the changes from an all white people stories to lots of people stories. It makes sense logically to then go from all straight stories to also having queer stories. A lot of people love Brimsley and Reynolds a lot and wanted more original characters like them. A lot of people feel that Bridgerton siblings should be queer too. So really people are at the point where they have to decide if the books are more important to them than the show and if they can see those changes as being valuable even though it is so different than the books?
I see a lot of discourse that no one has taken the books from you. That is true. A lot of people were just so excited to see the books come to life that they do feel like the books were taken from them. Part of that is it feels like characters they loved were stolen from them. I can understand that. I can see why reading the book isn’t the same as seeing a character in the small screen.
It’s hard to sort out what is a valid criticism and what is homophobic. I have read a few interviews of Jess Brownell that a lot of people are not happy with. Things like saying there isn’t a hierarchy of relationships in a show where she wrote hierarchy of relationships. Like an entire season of fighting for quiet love just to put it below passionate love at the end of the season. It is just another example of the messaging around the show just not lining up with the product they put out there. So it will be interesting to see if she will put that idea into practice next season.
A lot of people wanted Eloise to be the queer sibling. Which by the way, Eloise can still be queer. They don’t have to cap it at 2 siblings. I see a lot of people are mad that a feminist character has to be queer as a counter to all that. There is just a lot of back and forth.
I see even more people asking Shondaland and Netflix to adapt more queer books instead of changing around the Bridgerton siblings. The back and forth in it makes my head hurt sometimes. I would love it if Netflix and Shondaland did adapt queer books and a lot of them. I say the more queer representation the better.
I also just wish they didn’t swap personalities between siblings. It felt weird to me to do that. I was weirded out when they made that swap in season 1 and it made season 3 bad because of it. Idk who made that choice to take a lot of polin stuff and make it Eloise and Benedict instead… but I noticed and I didn’t like it.
As for the Benedict thing, I think I exaggerated a little bit. Sorry. I should have been a bit more careful in my criticism of him. But I still would pick the bear.
4. Weird clothing, hair and makeup
5. Colin didn’t earn the love
6. Too many subplots
7. Would have liked to see more relationship and healing within the featherington household
8. Lady Whistledown keeping her job makes no sense
9. Too many instances where “that would never happen in that era” From dialogue to hand gestures, a woman walking around in a bad neighborhood by herself
10. Some scenes and dialogue felt forced
11. If violet didn’t get any, i don’t care about her flirting with lady danbury’s brother
12. I don’t care about Lady Danbury’s issues with her brother
13. Tired of Penelope apologizing for anything. I thought we were getting a girlboss. WTF. She was so WEEPY
14. The only enjoyable couple (John and Francesca) was totally cheapened by Francesca meeting her ‘true’ love just before the series ended
15.
Agree with all of them, especially 9: in previous seasons an unmarried woman ABSOLUTELY COULD NOT be alone with a man, not in the garden, not in her house or his house, not in a carriage, not visiting their future home after being betrothed. The couple being alone was scandalous unless they were married, and that was enforced by everyone. Kate who could say she dgaf about Anthony at the time and everyone would believe her didn't want to be alone with him in the library because she knew it was inappropriate and could ruin her reputation. And yet Colin and Penelope just... are alone all the time? Which would be way more suspicious, the Cazanova and his childhood friend who society deems desperate to marry, people would accuse them of seducing one another if they were alone ONCE, nevermind fifty times.
You're right about the makeover it was too much, it also makes it come across like she had to change the essence of who she was for Collin to actually like her. The makeover could've been her changing her dresses and hair but it could've been done in a manner that still stuck to her essence. I'm still sad about this season because it had so much potential, the stakes were there and the writers completely missed the mark. Also I wish Penelope hadn't revealed that she was whistledown publicly, it should've been a family secret cause there is no way she would've been accepted so easily realistically with all the stuff she said about people throughout the series
The book handles it much better I think. Penelopes story is about how she doesn't fit in anywhere. That's all she wants. Even lady whistledown is a proxy for respect and admiration. People hate whistledown but they also love her. Pen actually ends up leaving the business on her own and only comes back bc Cressida takes credit. But the secret gets leaked and Colin mf bridgerton makes a big speech and uses his whole family and all their influence and power and basically intimidates the entire crowd into accepting her. He was on that shit. It made her realise that she is accepted and she is loved and she is important to the people that are important to her. It wasn't girlbossing but it did fit the general bridgerton theme better than this. And actually since it made pen both feel belonging, gave her credit for her gossip empire, and allowed her and Colin to both write novels in their epilogue it kinda is girlbossing
As someone who read the book, the decision to not give them the time to grow before they began their romance bothered me a lot, ever since I heard they would be the couple in this season. On the books, she hears he wouldn't marry her many years before their romance begins, which means she has a lot of time to deal with her feelings and reality. Besides, since she is 28 when the book starts, Penelope's change comes from maturing, not jut changing clothes. So, both Penelope and Colin are adults when their relationship starts changing. This makes a lot of difference both because that gives about ten years for their friendship to develop somehow (since she knows he won't see her as a romantic partner, they truly become more friends than anything) and also allows them to mature separately, before they even begin their romance. Also, the fact that they didn't explore his writing well, making it just about the fact that he is a man and she is a woman in a patriarchy robs the story and their characters of a lot of depth.
Anyway, it feels like we've been robbed of their actual relationship and given a lackluster version of it instead.
Thank you so much for saying this! I felt this exact thing when they were announced as the season 3 couple. I was so disappointed. I tried to wait and give the writers a chance but ultimately it seems like that initial feeling was spot on.
After this season, I decided that I wouldn't watch the show anymore. It was a huge disappointment after the buildup in Season 2.
I agree they went way too far with Penelope’s makeover in the makeup department, it was giving 2016. I love Nicola so much since her Derry Girls days. The costume and makeup department were not it this season. The over the top makeup sent a message to me they thought they couldn’t rely on Nicola’s beauty. The beauty trend right now is “clean” aesthetic which goes along with the regency era. Don’t get me started on the fake nails 💀
This!!! They killed it with the hair but like fake nails? Are we serious
ALLL OF THIS!! I'll be honest I was immediately turned off this season by the overt makeup on Pen. I totally agree that the show was basically saying that the only way for Colin to be attracted to her was if she was glammed up and almost hidden under makeup, synch waist, etc. I would've respected the show so much more if Colin fell in love with Season 1 and 2 Pen so the idea that she was fine already stood strong. Also, this is the minority, but I am really turned off by the overt sex in the show. I dunno, I don't mind it for some characters but I don't need or want it for EVERY. SINGLE. CHARACTER with a love interest. Do I need to see Pen's, Colin's or even Benedict's "O" face to get sucked into their stories. No. No, I do not.
I hated hated HATED how they ruined sweet innocent Colin of S1 & S2! I was looking forward to an innocent romance! But they just had to make him an icky rake. Ugh. 🤦♀️
The amount of stuff they changed compared to the book makes me think they devoted all their time to "updating" the material and not to fleshing out the budding chemistry of Colin and Penelope. There were so many good scenes they could've adapted! So many ways they could've made this work, but they just... didn't even try. It's such a shame. We needed flashbacks to their childhoods. We needed more natural banter between two people who were supposed to be such good friends. I was more invested in Pen and Eloise's falling out than I ever was in Polin's supposed romance.
Don't even get me started on how toxic Colin was to Penelope when they were finally married. He treated her with such disrespect and contempt, and then has the gall to be upset when she, rightfully, says something about it! He went ahead and married her, gave her his approval, and then changed his mind in an instant. She deserved far better than being Colin's beautiful and talented show pony.
I didn't read the books though friends have and based upon what they said it's like the showrunners know nothing about Bridgerton. Unpopular opinion: Outlander and, yes, Twilight are some of the best adaptations created in the last 20 years. The writers understood and loved the material. The Bridgerton adaptation seems like an MFA student at a lesser university is writing the show. Bad doesn't even cover it. How about out of touch, too focused on their chance to put what they think would be a "cool" version of a Regency story on TV, and they do not understand romance at all. I could go on.
@@kaybanks8781
As a book reader I absolutely agree.
@@kaybanks8781 I read a lot of romance and I love drama TV shows and what I noticed when looking up Jess Brownell is that she's a drama writer and doesn't have any experience writing romance and that's why it's not working. She missed the assignment and then bungled up the drama part as well (probably because she was asked to adapt the scenes, because they were to drama-ly and that's what resulted in the re-shoots). I just can't understand how they could take this book and adapt it so badly. At least with Daphne and Simon as well as Anthony and Kate they enhanced their internal struggles, with Colin it's like they forgot he's the BRIDGERTON sibling. (Edit for typo)
@@barbarafrings9231 I am so seriously disappointed because I loved book Colin and I love show Colin, but I do believe that the writers hate him. They didn’t give us our intelligent, witty and charming man. I love masculinity and they sacrificed one of the best male characters for that woke girl boss crap. 💩
@@peggyspurlock3012
👍🏼Yes, we could have had a real romance if they had kept more of the book.
Feel sorry for the actors, they could have shown so much more of their talent.
I seriously don't understand why most people still seemed to like it? I didn't even finish it, I was so bored of it halfway through. They had so few scenes together in the episodes I watched and didn't seem to make any sense together. I'm looking forward to Eloise seasons, I feel like that could be a good one.
There are more cute scenes together in part 2.
It was so abysmal that I couldn't even give you any legendary lines. Where's that "I burn you?"
"You're the bane of my existence?"
Collin doesn't even have keading man energy?
The music? I didn't realize there was music until someone pointed out that the music sounded odd in the background. Bring back Chris Van Dusen, please.
@@crystaleefyffe1230 😂😂😂🤣
Girl I watch up until episode 3. And was like nope can't take it. This is garbage.
Jess Brownell needs to be FIRED!!!!!!
21:31 Yes Francesca and John! The whole speech she gave violet about love not having to be all grand gestures and intense was so refreshing coming from a brigerton character, then at the last 5 seconds of the show introducing someone, like you couldn't let them have some peace! I really hope it not a love triangle either, but if thats what they're going for at least have the introduction at the start of the next season jeez. I'll still be mad tho John is so sweet 😭 (I haven't read the books)
The writing this season was sooo bad! I won't be watching future seasons, I'm done.
Totally agree on the "telling not showing" part of Colin. "He is so charming with the ladies" : at every ball the ladies swarm him for basically **existing**. And then the ladies he actually gets are the ones he pays.
LETS SPEAK ON ITTT
The lashes were so unnecessary
Eloise was always mean, putting down other women's interests because they don't match hers. She was not a good friend to penelope. Let's be honest she was terrible to cressida. It low key made me hate her. The only saving grace is i remember how i hated Anthony in S1 but now he's my favorite bridgerton. I hope her season makes her interesting.
I skipped all Benedict scenes in the second part. It was unnecessary
People using the numbers of viewers to defend this season is just pathetic.
Maybe because many people who loved the show came back for more and also new viewers who were hyped up that this would be the best one
Plus the viewership was earned by the trickery of splitting the season and absolutely great PR from NIC and LUKE
People using viewership are stupid asf. Ofc the season would have high views after taking forever to comeback with a very successful spinoff that helped keep and increase anticipation. But S3 will affect S4 viewership cause most people will now be more wary than excited for S4 so the show needs to be incredible so Word of mouth can carry it next season lol
And not just that, but the viewership doesn't matter if this is the same season that has long-time viewers choosing not to watch the next season at all and it has way more people on social media criticizing and dragging the show as a whole compared to the people who are actually praising it. Numbers don't mean anything if the quality is abysmal.
A wise person once reminded us that McDonald's sells millions of burgers every day, but that doesn't make it quality cuisine. 🤷🏿♀️🫣
I so love listening to you formulate much more eloquently, what I have thought all through season 3
*barely* eloquent but we try HAHAH
I completely agree with what you said! I was so disappointed by part 1 that it took me three weeks after the release of part 2 to start watching the final four episodes! I was not eager to finish the season because i was not invested in Polin's love story! I ended being much more interested in Eloise and Penelope's plotline, the few scenes of Kanthony and Penelope and her mother!
So many missed opportunities and butchering of storylines in this season!
I think the reason Colin and Penelope have such a flat storyline is the writers took their entire book and gave it to Eloise and Benedict. Like they lifted entire scenes from their book and made them into scenes with Eloise and Benedict. So of course Colin doesn’t have a lot of development. His older brother stole his entire personality and value system.
On another note, Benedict is my least favorite male lead. He is a very violent and disrespectful man and very self-absorbed. I hate him. I would not want to be in a room alone with him. If it was Benedict v bear I would choose bear.
Meanwhile Eloise is the is very smart and kind person and a great friend and talented. In the show she is not always giving that kind friend energy. They also put one of her traits onto Kate. Eloise is the best marksmen in the family and frequently hunts with her brothers and makes them feel very humble as a result. She is the sister that makes them think about gender roles the most in the books and the show.
Further, I think in hindsight, book Colin would have been a perfect queer character. He travels the world. He is charming. He doesn’t just charm unmarried ladies. He charms everyone he ever talks to. And most importantly, by the time he gets to his book, he is mature. He is 33 (the oldest male lead in the series) and ready to challenge his worldview. I think the showrunners for some reason thought an artist would be the natural queer character. A lot of people have queer identities. If anything I think having more queer characters from the start would have been better than the queerbaiting they did. They had a few queer original characters that were fan favorites. It just felt like they waited too long for Benedict to get there. Jess Brownell said she had pitched the queer Bridgerton storylines since season 1. I wish they didn’t put it off for as long as they did. It made seasons 1 and 2 so frustrating. Also, there is a cannon gay character in one of the books that I hope they introduce early and play around with more than they do in that book. I like show Benedict a lot. But that is because show Benedict is book Colin. Book Colin lives in a working class neighborhood and is inspired by their work. Book Colin wants a purpose in life. Book Colin immediately admires Penelope’s life’s work. He has a lot of feelings including anger and jealously and worry for her safety. And he also finds her inspiring. The two of them are really a team by the end of their book. Show Colin has so much stolen from him by Benedict. I hate that they did that to him. You can make Benedict in the show interesting without taking everything from Colin’s book.
No notes, it did fall flat in many many areas you mentioned. It was very entertaining from a drama standpoint, but didn't do the romance justice - and this is a romance show... right? Right?!
14:53 this. watching sammy bates colin bridgerton character analysis cured me after watching the writing production this season did not do him justice
16:01 i see no lies told here anyone who disagree can argue with the wall
18:35 this one too. i expect colin will have deep convo with violet too :' (but idk maybe they replace that with portia & pen convo + colin , anthony, benedict convo)
19:03 i concur with u, idk how many times i see my boy getting hate on SM
21:06 i actually roots for Debling and Cressida... then in part 2 he's nowhere to be seen
25:45 imo if im seeing mondriches then at least show us simon and daphne??? idk i skipped their scenes (also benedict, cressida )when i rewatched s3
26:46 SPOT ON. i always like benedict in s1 and s2 but after s3 idk man
27:04 they got nic and luke doing the PR, promoting scenes that didnt even exist, hyping up the romances etc. (i remember being told that polin has honeymoon phase and where were those?)
They need to bring Chris van Dusen back. I don’t expect award winning television from Bridgerton but I expect a somewhat coherent story that is entertaining. We didn’t get that this season
Sorry but I could see the Polin trainwreck coming from a mile away. The cracks were always there and they finally got fully exposed in their season
I absolutely agree with everything. Also, one quote from the book that they didn't include and I was absolutely dying to hear was his literal LOVE CONFESSION. Pathetic choice indeed..
"I love you with everything I am, everything I've been, and everything I hope to be. I love you with my past, and I love you for my future. I love you for the children we'll have and for the years we'll have together. I love you for every one of my smiles and even more, for every one of your smiles."
and it looks like nothing will change for season 4, what a mess
I agree that the other seasons were so much better that they can be redeemed but there was soooo much potential in this season that went to waist. Even Kanthony could have been so much better, like Daphne was in season 2.
unrelated but girl your voice is so calming i love it
Omg thank youuuuuu that’s like the best compliment 🫶🏾
I am not a friends to lovers fan because most of the time it is done badly. Only 3 times I actually like it. Also didn’t love his love confession like previous love confessions before. Didn’t like Colin before and now I just don’t really care. I wanted to get my Anthony treatment ( hated him in s1. After s2 and onwards I love him). Miss Chris as showrunner. Polin deserved more scenes so I could care for them more and fall inlove with them. Hopefully s4 is better. For me s3 is good for some side plots but s1,2,QC is amazing for ROMANCE. I can live with the season overall not being my favorite as a whole. Hope I will enjoy s4 more though tbh.
You’re not wrong they be fumbling friends to lovers so hard sometimes!! What are the 3 you liked?!
@@le_anntagonist Love Monica and Chandler from Friends, Zoey & Max from Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, and Luke & Julie from Julie & The Phantoms. Side note : I wanted to add Dwayne and Whitley from A Different World but idk I feel like they fall in the slow burned / forbidden love/ meant to be category vs friends to lovers for me.
All top tier choices 🙌🏾👏🏾
@@le_anntagonist thanks😂🥰. I like your content. Just discovered your channel. New subscriber.
My Lady Jane on Prime main characters had so much more chemistry.
I agree that the Featherington stuff was the best. Her sisters were fun.
I did love Polin season after watching it alot - and just watching the polin bits helps alot too. I also love friends to lovers.
But i agree with most things you have pointed out.
Its never been more obvious to me that i was watching a show with some of the terrible choices with how they shot or cut short scenes that we really needed longer with to feel the emotion.
Colins character was so sidelined - and i feel like we didnt get enough screen time with him to process all the emotional changes he goes through. - having him not behave like himself when he returns then telling pen he found his true self while he was away - came off as confusing. becase he has so few lines, I felt like the things that he did say held a lot more weight, and i didnt understand when u have such a small time to understand these characters why u would throw this in there.
I did feel like they spent more time energy, emphasis & attention to detail on the scripts for all the female friendships in this season - & for 'friends' to lovers we didnt get a lot of friendship conversations or witty banter with Polin. It definately felt more like a drama rather than romance which is sad because I feel like true romance is a genre that doesnt get much attention these days on the screne.
The girl boss stuff really took me out of it too. It didnt feel true. Pen loved love, Eloise wanted to buck the system/patriarchy, Pen longed to be APART of the system, always on the outside looking in. I understand Pen can feel like writing was a part of her and whistledown was important to her - but making it a womens rights issue rather than it being a 'being true to urself' moment felt off.
Agree with 'Jealous' song not noticeable - or the hearbeat in E3 watched it 15 times before i could hear it....just.
Even at their wedding they spend 5 min togehter. And I just really struggle with their lack of communication for friends. I have to tell myself they are young, childish and cant communicate 😬.
Cressida - Eloise was crazy!
Jhon - franchescia was pointless!
Bennidict - Tilly - Paul unnecessarily long didnt progress the story!
So many storylines that took up so much time and ultimately didnt come to much.
Lady danbury - Lord Anderson - Part 1 i was so intrigued i thought this man is messy & what he did was gonna be bad. - he was 10yrs old and she hasnt forgiven him....what?!
I do love Polin but its was a hard first watch. I have had to appreciate it for what it is. It is my fav season cos 💛Polin - but its also the most problematic & the one ive had the most to say about it.
Agree with everything! 👍🏼
Too little romance, too much drama.
I think they lost their minds and thought it was okay not to get help. All they had to do was focus on Benedict and get him married while Colin started falling in love with Penelope in a more genuine way.
completely agree! although I didn't dislike the benedict stuff as much as you did until really near the end. I'm with you though that they completely fumbled the perfect set up earlier in the show to establish his bisexuality, with the artist dude. also so weird that they've completely dropped his love of art and his wish to pursue it.
I was hoping they were going to use his three-way connection to show how sexual relationships don't have to be inherently romantic and that non monogamy can be fun and consensual rather than duplicitious and angsty (as an aro and non monog person myself I would have really appreciated this on a mainstream romance show). I thought this would be a really nice reverse parallel to the fran/john romance (my favourite couple of the season! they are adorable omg) which was so refreshing because it wasn't based on sex or passion or jealousy etc, it was much more about emotional compatibility and seemed really neurodivergent coded and maybe even asexual coded. I was getting really excited as the season went on that even with the disappointments around how they handed polin and eloise/cressida, the show was at least doing really good work in showcasing diverse relationships.
then they completely tanked both the poly/non romantic benedict stuff AND the fran/john story and I was absoluely fuming :|
One thing I was hoping for this season, as a book reader was that Colin himself would realize him and Peneople's connection in deeper ways. In the book they both really bond over his writing even before he knows she's whistledown and Colin gets really vulnerable on finding his purpose. Another thing I would've loved to see is more cute/romantic scenes between the two. We were basically robbed of that during the second half when they actually got together.
Anthony has always been my favourite and no one comes close Kanthony’s chemistry
I agree with everything! Also a thing I didnt really like, is that Penelope's sisters' never apologised!!! They were so mean to her for 2 seasons, and then season 3...all is well!!?
I hated how Pen and her sisters ended things. It’s unbelievable as someone with a terrible mean sister. Prudence is nice ONCE at her WEDDING and that’s it. That’s what we have to believe turned the tide for Pen to forgive her?? One kind on word on her literal wedding day?? Philipa is just… there? Like she doesn’t really say or do anything special but she’s less egregiously bad? Idk I hated it. Pen paying for their ball was infuriating to me. You don’t reward abusive family members because they’re nice once. You just don’t. That’s not a good message. They don’t have a love/hate sibling relationship. They seem to only have a painful hateful relationship. If they showed them having more loving sibling moments (even if they were few and far between) I could buy it more. But 2 full seasons of them being horrible to Pen and like 1-2 “nice” moments is NOT ENOUGH
All I saw was prudence seeming upset and jealous of Pen and Portia. That’s it. In fact when she complimented pen it seemed sarcastic to me? I didn’t believe her at all but I guess she was supposed to be authentic there.
Just felt wayyyyy too easy and I hated it!
It was humiliating that there was no romance build up
Portia is "Mrs Bennet" with brains
couldn't agree more. benedict's storyline was downright absurd. all those threesome scenes between the brothers made me shutter - and not in the good way. it felt sleezy and made me dislike the male characters. when i watched it i got the feeling this show was made by people that don't really get why women read romance novels? like...at all? or who even reads and enjoys them? netflix : know your target audience, please! because even films like the old star wars movies were more romantic, more heartwarming when it comes to the main couple. that's concerning. honestly it feels like the new showrunner doesn't like men or doesn't want them to be portrayed in a positive light? sorry, colin and benedict were no pined-after-material this season. we spend so much time convincing violet that francesca and john's love story is as true as her siblings love stories and that love doesn't need to be messy and dramatic to be true love... just so that we can learn that it's all, in fact, a lie and that she just doesn't know better because she's secretly gay? oh come on, that one really made me mad. every conclusion of every conflict (lady danbury & marcus, penelope & colin, eloise & cressida) felt rushed when it came to the conclusion. so she was traumatized by her brother, he says "oops" and she goes "oh well...okay, you're allowed to seduce my best friend" ... excuse me? it felt flat. we grow to like cressida (kind of) and eloise just turns her back on her after a 5sec scene? really?
what really irritates me is that the scores and reviews from rotten tomatoes and professionals are still very high. i have not spoken to a single person that liked this season. finally the one time left and right leaning audiences agree on something and it doesn't get picked up by media or critics? very sus, in my opinion.
19:32 Eloise really is my least favorite bridgerton. She is the kind of friend who only calls when she needs something. She is intelligent but doesn’t notice how privileged she is, it has become very annoying. I too hope she learns something in Scotland.
Because of that I liked her plot with Cressida. Eloise needed to be humbled and Cressida was the perfect messenger for this. Doesn’t mean I like Cressida, i think she make a really good villain for the show.
Spot On with EVERYTHING you said. There is so much wrong with this season. Especially the ridiculous amount of time on all the subplots. It is like the writers/producers did not have the confidence in a Polin-focused Story. Not only did they cut screen time, but they had to cake on the makeover of the naturally beautiful Nicola. Sad. Missed Opportunity. More sex was devoted to Kanthony than the people the season was supposed to feature. Weird and telling.But I wasn't a fan of Season 2 either. They butchered that book too and made Kate and Anthony actually unlikeable. The book was not that way.
I adore Portia❤❤, I think Portia plays the hand she's been given perfectly. Love her😀❤. I've not really enjoyed this season, the only redeeming thing of season 3 is Kanthony, I only committed to watching season 3 because of them and we did not get enough of Kanthony😒
As Queen Portia said: “I am a mother” 🙌🏾
Colin wearing a mask is very much told and not shown, even in the book. We’re supposed to believe that his lack of correspondence with Penelope left a gaping hole in his heart that he’s now trying to fill with being a fuck boy.
He mentioned that no one wrote him back in his travels which led him to journaling. So I do understand him coming back, trying to pretend to be something else. last year when he came back, everyone made fun of how much he rambled on about his travels. So I actually kind of understand him coming back and trying to be more like Anthony or Benedict when they’re single.
About the love coach part, I remember when the s3 summary was out, a lot of people complained that it's the same story as Simon and Daphne's. Maybe that's why they toned it down a bit? cause they didn't be accused of recycling old plots.
You are RIGHT about EVERYTHING here, especially with Penelope's 'girlboss' narrative that they tried to run while she spent all that time taking down other women. I agree with everything you said here.
You should watch the show 'Rome'. 10/10. Polly Walker (Portia) is in it and is iconic. She plays an overbearing and scheming mother in that as well.
There was a producer change between season 2 and 3. From Chris Vanducen to Jess Brownel. Usually, that's the major issue when they have different visions , o the whole look and tone changes.
Let nobody blame the writer's strike because dahling, a strike doesn't make a script this basic...this simply was not it. I wanted more from S3
And I think Colin in particular didn’t feel fully rounded as a character. He gave me whiplash. One minute he is mad at Penelope the next he is the luckest guy in the world to he with her. One minute he would never date Penelope and then one begged kiss later he is head over heals. They get together and then like 5 minutes later ( same night they get together) he gives the laziest "are you going to marry me or not" proposal ever. I was like barf if Penelope weren't so head over heals into Colin and she weren't "fingertized" ( like dickmatized but they didn't get there in that scene) from the carriage right before he asked I'd hope she'd be like "really bro; I thought you were a writer that is the only proposal you have?" Colin in season one is who Penelope loved not this " my travels" charm can be learned guy. His character just gets stuck in this unlikable space and then has a line or two thats like the old Colin. It's like the writters didn't know where his character was meant to develope next so they kind of just meshed his old and new self into a character who makes no sense.
0:00 1st sentence and I couldn’t agree more
3:30 maybe love coach trope polin is a friend we made along the way 😭😂
08:01 ohhh how i want the “I love you with everything I am, everything I've been, and everything I hope to be. love you with my past, and I love you for my future” confession to be included in the show🥲
Actually theres more dialogue from the book BUT it is done poorly and didn’t show much context on how its delivered💀
I like polin so so much but imo it’s done with poor, bad and lazy writing (numerous examples tbh). Honestly idk if CVD can pull this trope either (as ive seen on twitter abt people saying that he also will ruin polin) but watching numerous opinions and suggestive writings to this season from bridgerton fans never fails to make me feel robbed..
Anyways, i don’t really think that s3 is flopped considering how Nicola and Luke were doing such a great job and justice to their characters despite given so little 👏🏻
Okay I might be late but I was discussing this with my friend and hear me out: They could've gave Benedict an art school romance side story with a male character to reveal him being bi and not have a female "love" interest for him at all this season. They could've built it slowly and ended it with the love interest marrying someone else because of societal rules. It would lead to Benedict questioning societal rules (a perfect set up for Sophie I think) and leaving him heartbroken for a while would also lead to a) wholesome sibling moment b) him meeiting sophie at ball and having fun after being depressed for a year or so...
Idk I just think that fans would love it (DPS, Maurice kinda storyline, dark academia, they could've used "war of hearts" for the wedding scene) and it would be much more meaningful fo his storyline (why he quit art,etc)
-“flopped severely” and it’s top 6 and higher than S2 and QC. 😭
Colin had absolutely no personality. It made sense to not know much about him in the first 2 seasons but this was supposed to be HIS season! Why wasn't he the main character in his season?! I didn't watch any of the press tour so I can't speak to the actors so called chemistry except it very much did not translate onto the screen and I am utterly baffled by people who loved this season so much.
To be honest I was 100% sure that the lady Benedict had romantic suplot is going to dump him at the end of the season not the other way around💀 It felt bit out of character on her part and we had so little screen time with her
The ending was WAY TOO EASY. Penelope got off way too easily and now that we all know she is lady whistle down, how are they going to carry on that dynamic? Like that’s just gonna be boring now
My question for season 3: “where is Colin?”
Such a good video! I agree with everything you mentioned, and, honestly, there are still more things you could have complained about.
I was so excited about this season because I also enjoy friends-to-lovers, and I’ve been invested in Colin and Penelope since the pilot episode. But this season was such a huge letdown. I feel like the only thing I got from the show was the chance to see these actors in these roles so that I can more easily picture them when I go read the book again or read fan fiction to get that romance story satisfaction. Like, it was so unfulfilling that I don’t understand why they adapted their story at all.
Besides Portia this season, the only thing the show did that was more interesting than the book was the Pen and Eloise friendship, which was still fumbled, but I can at least really appreciate that storyline and what they were trying to do.
Yesss i was so excited to see Bridgerton’s take on friends to lovers and yet…
5011 plot lines! 🤣 I fast-forwarded most of Benedict's scenes this season and he WAS a favorite character. I love your video and agree with your assessment. Portia's arc surprisingly satisfying this season.
The writers did Eloise and Cressida dirty.
I love the point that they were trying too hard to make her look beautiful. It's like they're saying, "look she can be beautiful despite her size." They should have just left it at she already was and is beautiful. Period.
Yea finally someone talks avout how weird cressida and fransescas storys were! (Sorry of I misspelled the names)
I only started with that season and was soo sad for Cressida!
Too many story lines, negative chemistry, soap opera conflict. Yeah. They lost me. Never even watched the second half of season 3.I was bored. I like the Queen Charlotte spinoff, though.
It was ultimately just boring, how could this season with FOUR budding romances (Penelope’s, Francesca’s, Benedict’s, and Violet’s) possible be so uninteresting. Where I was literally unable to pull my eyes away from the first two seasons I watched two episodes of season 3, fell asleep and didn’t pick up again for days. I’m not saying there are no interesting moments but you know. In my opinion Collin is such an undeveloped character that he cannot stand on his own, like he doesn’t get scenes alone to feel and process his feelings like Anthony and Daphne did because he doesn’t have any, he isn’t a characters at all unless there’s someone else in the scene for him to play off of. Literally the star of the season and we know nothing about him other than that he likes to travel and that shouldn’t be the case for a character we’ve known for three seasons. Also it feels like he just turns his feelings for Penelope on all of a sudden it felt artificial to me and the chemistry was nonexistent.
The writers did Colin and Pen dirty. That season was shit and it is not the actors' fault. We were supposed to be getting a Miss Congeniality type story, and we got no scenes with the make over her training. We did get where there was a real love interest for Pen to make Colin jealous. Or where Pen in put in a situation where she has to choose been 2 guys she loves. Got unnecessary and uninteresting back stories other than puffy sholders girl. Waste of great characters. Season 3 needs a do over with a better show runner and story.
i dont think they're gonna do a love triangle with mckayla, i feel pretty confident they're gonna kill john off at the beginning of her season. ALSO! there have been hints, super subtle but definitely present, that the mondrich's son is going to be a love interest for the young bridgerton daughter. hyacinth, thats her name lol. i agree 100% their presence needs to be justified way more NOW, but i do think there's a larger story being told about them that will pay off down the line in the final season
As a long time fan of the books I was excited about the new show but had some niggling doubts as Hollywood was making it. Once I started watching the series and as per my doubts each season was more disappointing than the previous one for a number of reasons. The main reason is they have strayed too far from the books and they have added 20th century agendas and views into the show 🙄 The cast were lovely but the story line was so cringe and they destroyed some of the main characters so much so they became unlikeable. It was like watching a train crash happening in slow motion 😬 Each to their own but it does nothing for me so I will not be watching the remainder of the series. Will definitely stick to the books. Happy that others are enjoying it but I am definitely out.
Nicola Coughlan carried this season on her back. I wanted more like the book. We needed to see the intricacies of the Polin couple. Maybe season 4 will have more to their story. Who knows?
They could have skipped Colin’s encounters with the prostitutes. They had no merit in the story. And compared to e.g. the first season, I hated the heavy makeup. E.g. Penelope and Francesca (the actresses) have natural beauty and the makeup looked clownish to me. Or is it my TV settings?
I feel like the whole season reinforced that the fat girls love story isn’t important. She wasn’t a main character in her own story, people were unnecessarily rude to her, she only could stand out if she changed her own appearance, and Colin was just plain rude and married her for pity. I felt terrible for her their connection turned super sexual out of nowhere